The angel of Fairy Tail
by Ordinarycomet3
Summary: Garion Angelous is a wizard of Fairy Tail and is one of its youngest members. He's been in the guild for practically his whole life, and see's it as home. However when he returns from a personal quest, the guild has changed, as has the world. With new challenges facing him and the guild, he must rise to the occasion, and learn what his feelings really are.
1. Home again

**Welcome all to my Fairy Tail Fan Fiction! I hope you will enjoy this little story of mine. Updates will be whenever I can get a chapter out. The main characters name is Garion Angelous. He's an OC I came up with, and no he isn't a dragon slayer. I've tried to be as original as possible with my idea for his powers, and those of you who figure out what I'm basing them off, I'll give you a metaphorical high five. I want to say more in this, but I have nothing that I can speak about to fill this space. By describing the problem, I have just solved it.**

 **Genius**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoy and let's get started!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

"SMASH" The Vulcan roared before smashing its fists into the ground, where seconds previously Garion had been standing. He landed several meters off to the left, rolling as he landed and getting to his feet. He spun around, his light blue eyes focusing on the beast in front of him. His hair was sandy blond, and reached down to his ears. It had no distinct style, simply sticking out at the front and hanging down the sides of his face, forever looking like it need to be combed down. The Vulcan glanced over, and roared in anger when it saw its target had avoided its attack.

"ME NO LIKE MAN! ME LIKE WOMAN! ME SMASH MAN WHO STOP ME GET WOMAN!" it roared before charging Garion, who gathered a ball of pure white light energy and hurled it at the Vulcan's face. Instead of impacting, it exploded a half a meter from its face, blinding the creature. Reflexively it covered its eyes with its hands and let out a startled cry which changed to "oof" as Garion's foot collided with its stomach. Using his momentum, Garion swung his body forwards and delivered an uppercut to the beasts jaw, sending it flying into a nearby tree.

Garion landed in a crouch and stood up, brushing dirt off his short sleeved light blue shirt which bore the mark of his guild on the back, which was in pure white. Which guild mark did he bare? Why, the mark of the greatest guild in Fiore.

Fairy Tail

He reached down to brush the dirt off his shorts which were mainly red with a light blue stripe running down the sides of the legs, and became 2 solid rings when they reached the bottom of his shorts, which stopped just below his knees. He wore fully closed dark blue shoes with white socks with red stripes that reached just above his ankles. The shoes also bore his guild mark, on the left side of his left shoe and the right side of his right shoe, both marks red.

He looked around the area and sighed, a small smile coming onto his face. He didn't have any outstanding facial features such as a giant nose or protruding jawline. Overall his face could be summarised into 3 words: Boyish and innocent. The same could be said about his eyes. His skin was light in colour, and he didn't have any spots or scars. He looked to be about 14 years of age.

There were the bodies of about 12 Vulcan's lying around in the forest clearing, all unconscious. They had been terrorising a nearby town for a few months, and Garion had arrived 2 days ago to complete the job request that had been sent to Fairy tail. The town's folk had been happy to see him, but confused he hadn't arrived sooner, as they had received word the job had been accepted over 2 months ago. The reason for this was because Garion had accepted a large bunch of jobs last time he'd been in Magnolia, and so he'd been doing them one by one. This was the last one, meaning he was going to head home afterwards.

He heard a low growl from behind him and spun around, ready to fight. The final Vulcan was standing looking at him, its jaw slightly agape at the sight in front of it. It was bigger than the others, so Garion guessed it must be the leader. Its fur was also a much darker colour as well.

"You do this?" The Vulcan asked. Garion nodded. The Vulcan roared and pounded its chest with its hands. "ME SMASH YOU NOW!" It roared, charging Garion who dodged to the right to avoid the attack. Glancing upwards, he saw the sun was close to setting, meaning evening would be arriving soon. _I better hurry up, otherwise I'll be late for dinner, and Miss Poluschry won't be happy with me if that happens!_ Garion thought, a smile coming to his face at the thought of food. A roar snapped him out of his thoughts as the Vulcan charged him. Garion quickly dodged to the left, rolling as he landed and turning to face the Vulcan leader.

 _Better get this done quickly._ Garion stood up and held out his right hand, which was open. After a second, a sphere of purple dark energy started forming. After several seconds, the sphere was complete and without a moment's hesitation, he threw it at the Vulcan. The explosion sent the creature flying into a tree on the other side of the clearing, knocking it out cold.

Garion let out a tired breath, but he had a small smile on his face. He turned around and began walking back to town, confident the Vulcans had learned their lesson and would never terrorise the town again.

* _Several minutes later*_

"Well done good chap!" The mayor declared once Garion had told him that he had dealt with the Vulcans "I'm sure those beasts won't try and attack the town again. I have to say, you Fairy Tail wizards might be a rowdy bunch, but you certainly get the job done right!"

"No thanks are necessary sir; I was just doing my job." Garion said with a smile. The mayor smiled back. "Now then, I assume you would like your reward?" He asked. Garion nodded, and the mayor pulled out a bag of Jewels and handed them to the young wizard. "Here you go. 60000 Jewels as stated in the contract." The mayor said as Garion took the bag.

"Thank you sir" Garion said. He turned around and walked out the door, closing it as he left. After he left the mayors house, he made his way to the house he was staying in, owned by the aforementioned Miss Poluschry. He would be leaving as soon as he'd had dinner, since the train ride back to Magnolia would take several hours; he figured it would be best to take the overnight train.

He knocked on the door. After a few seconds, a middle aged woman answered. She had brown hair down over her shoulders and grey eyes. She was wearing a slightly dirty blouse which was sawdust brown. She smiled when she saw who had knocked on the door.

"Garion, it's good to see you. How did it go?" She asked. "Good. I managed to beat them without getting hurt." He responded, knowing that if he didn't say something, she would have immediately asked if he was hurt. "That's good to hear. So I take it your-"She was cut off by 2 small forms slamming into the back of her legs, knocking her forwards slightly and causing her to spin around.

"Ow." They both complained. One was a boy, aged 7 with light brown hair and eyes; one was a girl, aged 5 with blond hair and blue eyes. They got up, rubbed their heads and then looked up at their mother before looking past her. They both smiled broadly when they saw Garion.

"Garion!" They both said joyfully before rushing outside, only to be caught by their mother who looked amused at their antics. "Now dear's; Garion's had a long day and unfortunately is leaving. Please don't pester him as he is very tired." She then looked at the mage in question. "Will you be having dinner with us first?" She asked.

"Of course! It'd be rude for me to just take my stuff and leave." Garion said. The two children's faces had dropped. "Now don't be sad. I'm sure if Garion is ever around here again, he'll be sure to visit, won't you?" She asked. Garion nodded. "Of course. If I ever pass through town, I'll be sure to stop by and say hello. It's the least I can do since you let me stay here for free." He said.

"It's nothing Garion. Mages in these parts are a rare sight, and one from a guild like Fairy Tail is truly something extraordinary. It was the least we could do to thank you in our own small way for helping the town." A man who had just appeared in the doorway said. He had brown hair and blue eyes, and was the same height as the mother. He had a warm, friendly smile on his face, one which Garion returned. "It's nothing Mr Poluschry. And once again thank you." Garion said.

The man chuckled. "It is nothing but a pleasure. Now then, who's hungry?"

"Me!" Garion and the two children said in unison. "Well then, what are we waiting for?" The man asked. "Let us eat!" He declared.

* _Several minutes later_ *

"Goodbye!" Garion called back as he ran towards the train station. Night had set in now, and the lacrima that served as street lights had kicked in, giving off a warm orange glow.

"Goodbye Garion! We wish you luck in your future adventures!" Mr Poluschry called out. "Thanks!" Garion called back. Once he could no longer see their house, he turned and started running faster towards the train station. The bag he was holding over his shoulder bouncing each time one of his feet hit the ground. The train station entered sight, and within seconds Garion had reached it.

He walked in, bought a ticket and then climbed aboard the departing train just as the doors closed. He made his way to the central carriage and then sat down in one of the booths near the centre of the train. He set his bag down and smiled as the town rolled passed him, and eventually it was replaced with the darkness of the wilderness. It was a long trip across Fiore. He closed his eyes, a small smile on his lips.

"Magnolia, I'm coming home."

* * *

Garion awoke slowly, his eyes creaking open. The train was still moving, meaning either he hadn't reached Magnolia yet, or he had, only to have slept through the stop.

 _No I asked the conductor to wake me up when we got to Magnolia. Since he isn't here, I guess we haven't arrived yet._ He sat up and stretched, yawning as he did so. He opened his bag and took out an apple he had stored in it. He ate it quickly and threw the middle bit away. The door at the end of the carriage opened, and a man wearing a railway outfit walked in. He spotted Garion and walked over.

"Ah, you're already awake. I'd like to inform you we are almost at Magnolia, about 5 minutes away." He said crisply. "Thank you sir" Garion said, smiling at the man. The conductor gave a small smile in reply before bowing slightly. "It is a pleasure sir. I hope you enjoyed the ride." He said. He then walked off, probably going to wake any passengers who wanted to disembark at Magnolia.

Garion could barely contain his excitement. _It's been 3 months since I've seen anyone else from Fairy Tail, I wonder how their all doing._ He then let out a quiet laugh _I wonder if Gray and Natsu have finally managed to destroy the guild hall during one of their fights._ He then chuckled _I'm sure Erza would have stopped them before they could. I really hope the master's been doing alright too. I wonder how Levy's doing…_

The train started slowing, and Garion leapt to his feet, his bag over his shoulder and an excited grin on his face. The train entered the station, but Garion had leapt off and left the train station before it fully stopped. He ran through the streets of Magnolia with a grin plastered to his face. When most people saw him, they cleared out of his way. As he ran past, many residents of Magnolia recognized him and a few waved to him and shouted their greetings. He tried his best to respond, but nearly crashed headfirst into a wall.

He rounded another corner, and another and another. When the guild hall finally came into sight however, he stopped running. He blinked several times and frowned. _Is that the guild hall?_ He wondered. He didn't recognize it and the only thing that told him that the building in front of him was the guild hall were the words "Fairy Tail" written across the top of the arc way leading into the building. _I wonder if I wasn't so wrong about thinking Natsu and Gray had finally managed to destroy the guild hall._ _I guess I'll have to ask master what happened. But first, I need to tell I've finally got enough._ He then started running towards the door, his smile returning.

* * *

Makarov Dreynar, the current guild master of Fairy Tail, took a swig from his tankard which currently contained his favourite beverage. He looked around the guild hall, smiling at the current mood. Levy was reading a book while Elfman was shouting at Jet and Droy about something, probably to do with them failing _another_ job. Cana was sitting at a table watching the scene with an amused smile on her face while occasionally taking a swig from her tankard. The idea of challenging her to a drinking contest came to the forefront of Makarov's mind, but he quickly decided he'd actually prefer to remember the rest of his day.

"Hey Mira I need a drink over here, mine's just run dry." Cana called out from her table. "Coming Cana! What do you want?" A sweet voice said from behind Makarov. "The usual." The drinker replied. Mirajane Strauss swept past Makarov and went towards Cana carrying her requested drink, offering the guild master a good view of her rear end. _Fairy Tail certainly does have some fine women…_ Makarov thought to himself.

Mira handed Cana the beverage before turning around, prompting Makarov to quickly take a swig of his drink least he be caught peering. Unfortunately he swallowed a bit too quickly and started spluttering and spurting violently, comically thumping himself on the chest rapidly. Mira quickly walked over and thumped him several times on the back.

"Are you alright Master?" She asked once Makarov had recovered from his instant Karma. "Yes I'm fine. Just drank too quickly." He explained. He eyed his tankard suspiciously before taking another swig. He looked around again. "It sure is quiet today…" He said to no-one in particular.

"Oh don't worry Master; once Natsu and the others get back, I'm sure the place will liven up!" Mira said cheerfully, prompting the guild master to groan. "I really hope it doesn't liven up too much, we did just rebuild the guild hall." Makarov muttered. Team Natsu had recently been involved with the events at the Tower Of Heaven. That had been 3 days ago. Makarov had been relieved to hear they were all okay.

He sighed. "Well we're going to have a bigger problem than Natsu and Gray's constant fighting when they get back." Makarov said referring to the new dragon slayer who'd joined the guild. Currently he was out on a job.

"I guess." Mira said. "But don't worry. If you tell them to leave Gajeel alone, I'm sure they will." Makarov huffed before speaking "Hopefully, but knowing those 2 they definitely won't like it. I just hope Erza understands. That way she'll be able to keep them-"

He was cut off as the door flew open and Garion ran several feet into the hall. He skidded to a halt and looked around, a grin spread across his face.

"Hey guys I'm home!" He yelled. Those present in the guild stopped what they were doing to see who just burst through the door, and a wave of greetings had erupted when they saw who it was. Garion responded with his own before he made his way over to Makarov and Mira.

"Garion my boy! It's good to see you again. It's certainly been a while hasn't it?" The guild master asked, a smile spread across his face. "Yes it has, over 3 months. It's good to see you again Master." Garion then looked at Mira who was beaming at him. "Hey Mira! Good to see you again!" He said.

"Good to see you too Garion." The white haired girl replied. "How have you been?" She asked. "Great! Although I really missed you guys. Especially you're cooking Mira; nothing I ate after I left was as nearly as good as what you can make." He said beaming back at Mira, his voice filled with honesty. Mira giggled at him. "Oh thank you Garion. If you want, I could make you dinner tonight as a welcome home gift." She offered.

"Really? That would be awesome! Yes please, I would love it!" Garion said, his face brightening even more at the thought of Mira's cooking. Mira couldn't help but once more giggle at Garion. He then seemed to remember the master was there, who'd been watching the little exchange with a fond smile on his face.

"Oh I'm sorry master but I forgot to ask, how have you been doing?" Garion asked the old man. "I've been doing well my boy. One or two incidents but nothing the guild couldn't handle. I have to say, it's good to have you back." He replied, a smile on his face, not really wanting to bother the young wizard with the recent troubles Fairy Tail had gone through. "Good to hear. Oh master, I managed to finish all my jobs!" Garion declared proudly. "I now have enough money to buy the house I've always wanted!"

"Well done my boy!" Makarov praised, a proud smile spread across his face. "I always had faith that you could do it. When do you plan to buy it?" He asked.

"As soon as I can!" Garion said ecstatically. He then looked around sharply before looking back at Makarov. "Oh I forgot to ask, why has the guild hall changed so much?" He asked. Makarov let out a sigh. _I'd have preferred to have avoided telling him this_ Makarov thought. "Is something wrong master?" Garion asked, tilting his head slightly to the left. "Did Natsu and Gray finally destroy the guild hall?"

Makarov chuckled. "No Garion, unfortunately not. We were involved in a guild war with Phantom Lord. Victory was ours, but we paid the price of our guild hall being destroyed." He explained. Garion just stared at him. "W-Was anyone hurt? What happened to them afterwards? Why did they attack us?" He asked; worry filling his eyes and his expression changing to one of shock.

"Their guild was disbanded by order of the magic council." Mira said. "Don't worry about it Garion, no one was killed, but nearly everyone was injured in some way, mostly due to the fighting, but their all fine now. As for why… it's because the father of one of our newest guild members hired them to capture her." She explained. Garion looked at Mira before looking at Makarov. "M-Master I'm so sorry… I-If I'd know I'd have come to help…" Garion said. Makarov eyed the boy before smiling and extending his arm to pat Garion on the head. "No need to apologize my boy. I know you wouldn't have hesitated to help if you'd been here, so don't think about it. The past is the past, no need to worry about it."

Garion grinned. "Whatever you say Master! Oh have I missed anything else?" He asked. Makarov and Mira then gave him a brief synopsis of what's happened since he'd last been in Magnolia, although Mira ended up doing most of the talking, and Makarov chipped in here and there.

"Wow, sounds like I missed a lot! So we've got another dragon slayer in the guild? That's awesome!" Garion exclaimed. Makarov sighed. _If only everyone else could share that viewpoint…_ He thought. "Well I'll just go see how everyone else is doing before I go out to buy the house." Garion said before turning around and practically sprinting over to everyone else.

"He hasn't changed at all has he?" Mira asked. Makarov shook his head. "No he hasn't, but I'm glad. He truly is an exceptional boy." Makarov then smiled. "He's been working so hard towards having enough jewels to buy that house he wants. I'm glad to see he's got enough now." He said. "Yeah. That's our Garion for you, doesn't stop till it's done." Mira said with a smile. Makarov then glanced at his tankard.

"Mira! I need more to drink!"

Meanwhile in the middle of the hall Garion was making his way over to Levy who looked up and smiled at him "Hey Garion! Good to see you again. Hard to believe it's been 2 months since I last saw you. You finally got enough money for the house?" She asked. Garion nodded vigorously, a grin spread across his face.

"It's good to see you too Levy. Yeah I'll be moving out today. Thanks again for letting me stay in your room at Fairy Hills for so long, I just wish I could pay you back somehow."

Levy's smile fell a little. She'd started sharing her room with Garion about 3 years ago and she'd never found a single thing to complain about. He always helped her with getting the money for rent; he often helped her out on jobs, essentially making him an unofficial member of Team Shadow Gear. Also since he could fly, he was a great help in getting books down from the top of her shelves quickly. It made her a little lazy, but she'd never admit that.

"You don't have to worry about that Garion. All the help you've given me over the last 3 years more than makes up for it." Her smile returned in full. "Can I come along today when you buy it?" She asked.

"Sure thing!" He said. He then suddenly looked very guilty "Sorry if it sounds like I'm happy to be moving out! Well I am… but not because I didn't enjoying sharing your room with you or anything!" He blurted out, suddenly looking embarrassed. "It's just I'm-"

"It's alright Garion I know what you mean." Levy said, chuckling at the boy. "Just remember to fetch all your things after you move in."

"I will! In fact I'll fetch them before I buy the house."

At that moment, Elfman finished his verbal thrashing of Jet and Droy and turned around to smile at Garion.

"Garion! Good to see you again kiddo, how've you been?" he asked.

"Elfman! Good to see you too! I've been doing great, how about you?" The young wizard asked.

"Great. How'd your jobs go?"

"Great! I finished them all and now I've got enough for the house! I'm gonna go buy it today."

Elfman huffed before looking at Jet and Droy. "See? Even Garion's more of a man than you 2! And he's only 14!" He looked at Garion. "You're gonna grow up to be a real man Garion, more than these 2 ever could be." The two aforementioned men hung their heads in shame. "We're sorry…" They muttered. "Hey Elfman don't be so hard on them." Garion requested, smiling. The older man looked at him before huffing. "Fine… but if they screw up one more job…" He left the statement hanging in the air before walking off.

Levy clapped her hands together, breaking the silence. "Hey Garion, want to fetch your stuff now?" She asked. The boy nodded "Yeah! Then I can buy the house!" He said his mind currently focused on buying his house.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Levy asked.

 _*half an hour later*_

Garion looked up at his house, a proud smile on his face. It was a fairly nice house, located on the outskirts of Magnolia near Fairy Hills. It had 2 bedrooms, the main one and a spare one, which could be used by any member of the guild at any time they needed somewhere to stay for a while, both upstairs. He carried his things through the door into an open entrance hall. The kitchen was to the right through a glass door. To the left was the lounge and eating area. Straight ahead across the hall was a flight of stairs leading upwards. To the right of the stairs there was an oaken wood door which leads into a bathroom. To the left of the stairs was a hallway which leads to an empty room.

He set his bags down in the middle of the open hall. Levy had helped him carry the rest of his things through, and she set down the 2 bags he'd given her. "Thanks again for this Levy." Garion said.

"Don't mention it. Besides I wanted to see what your house looked like anyway, so it seemed like a good chance to do so." She looked around. "Not much furniture is there?" She noted the complete lack of any chairs in the entrance hall.

"Why do you think I spent so long getting money together? I thought it'd be best to buy it all at once. I'm gonna do it right after we get my stuff into my room!" Garion said with excitement in his voice. "Now then, let's go see what my bedroom looks like!"

Levy smiled and picked up the bags. They weren't heavy, since Garion had intentionally taken the heaviest bags to carry so she wouldn't have to. Garion was always like that, always trying to do the hard things so other people wouldn't have to, but he was reasonable enough that he could see when he was being overly stubborn about it.

She went up the stairs into another hallway. This one wasn't as wide as the entrance hall, but still wider than your average hall way. The door to the spare room was on the right, the door to the upstairs bathroom on the left, which only had a toilet, sink and shower, unlike the downstairs bathroom which had a massive bath. The spare room door was open, and the room lacked furnishings. She walked into the main bedroom, which too was devoid of furnishing. It was fairly large and possessed 2 windows across the room. The interior walls of the house were a dull red and the carpet a light purple.

"It really looks like a nice house Garion and I'm sure it'll look even better when you get all the furniture." Levy said. "Yeah I know it will! Anyway now I need to go buy all the furniture!" He exclaimed cheerfully. "Hey, you think we could get some people from the guild to help me carry it all here?" He asked the bookworm.

"I'm sure they'll be more than happy to help." Levy replied,

"Alright then what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" and with that, he turned and sprinted past Levy. She turned to follow him, a fond smile on her face.

"It's good to have you back Garion."

* * *

 **And that's the first chapter done! I hope you enjoyed it. Anyway yes this takes place after the TOH arc (Tower of heaven) meaning that the battle of Fairy Tail is up next (I'll be skipping all official filler arcs and I'll be throwing in an original one or two). Anyway as for the pairing it's… (Drum roll please)**

 **Garion and Wendy! (Gawen :D but you knew that from the summary, unless you didn't read it xD)**

 **Since she only shows up at Oracion Seis (I think I spelled that right), that part isn't going to start for a while. Also he's a regular wizard/mage, he isn't S-class. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review telling me what you think, feel free to point out any mistakes, and I'll see you next time. Also updates won't be often, like one chapter a month or maybe.**


	2. New and Old Friends

**Hello and welcome to chapter 2 of AOFT! I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter and will enjoy this one as well.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

* * *

Chapter 2: new and old friends.

Garion slowly opened his eyes and looked around his room. All the furniture had been moved in yesterday, meaning Garion was now in a fully furnished room. His bed was a king sized bed with blue covers and red and white striped pillows and was directly opposite the door, albeit with its side pressed up against the wall which was a light blue in his room. He sat up, stretched his arms in the air above his head and yawned before his arms dropped to his sides and he looked around with half open eyes.

He climbed out of bed and made his way to the chest of draws pushed up against the wall to the right of his bed, which was also next to his cupboard. After quickly getting changed into a white shirt with the guild mark in light blue on the back and a pair of light blue shorts with red lines running down the sides and the same shoes he wore the day before he quickly made his bed before heading downstairs to make some breakfast.

After a quick breakfast of some of his favourite cereal and an apple he left his house. He smiled at the bright early morning sun; he always enjoyed bright, sunny days. They always put him in a great mood. He walked down the street towards the guild hall greeting anyone he passed by, and everyone who saw him found that his smile was infectious as they too were all smiling as he walked past.

He finally arrived at the guild hall and stopped outside. He took a moment to examine its new look, and after a while he smiled. _I really liked the old guild hall, but I guess the new one is really cool too._ He walked up to the door and with a great shove opened it.

The instant he entered the guild hall he could tell something was off. He looked around sharply and he frowned at the air of hostility he felt was currently present in the guild, opposite to the usual friendly and cheerful atmosphere he was used to. He noticed Levy seemed to be shaking a little bit, and that Jet and Droy were glaring at someone who was sitting near the stage all by himself. He seemed to be ignoring all the glares being thrown at him by the other guild members.

Garion looked over at Makarov and saw he was talking to a tall girl with blue hair. He quickly made his way over to the 2 of them.

"Master why is everyone being so hostile towards the person sitting near the stage? Isn't he a member of the guild? And who is she?" Garion asked politely when he got within earshot of the master. Makarov spun around to face Garion.

"It's because he's Gajeel Redfox, the Dragon slayer I told you about. And this is Juvia, a former S-class wizard of Phantom Lord and currently our newest member." Garion stopped at the last bit and looked at Juvia with wide eyes. "You're an S-class wizard?" He asked, amazed. Juvia shook her head.

"No. I used to be when I was part of Phantom Lord, but my position as an S-class Wizard didn't carry over when I changed guilds." She explained.

Garion's look of amazement faded. "Oh." He then grinned before extending a hand to Juvia. "Welcome to Fairy Tail! My names Garion, it's really nice to meet you Juvia. I also like your hair! It's just like Levy's." Makarov glanced at Juvia and chuckled when he saw the edges of Juvia's mouth twitch upwards into a smile.

Juvia shook his hand. "Thank you Garion. It is a pleasure to meet you as well and thank you for the compliment. I hope you can forgive my past actions agains-"

"Don't worry about it! It's the past now and it doesn't really matter right now so no need to hold grudges." Garion said cheerfully. "You're part of Fairy Tail now, that's all that matters, isn't that right master?"

"Indeed it is my boy." _If only the other brats could also think like that._ "Now then, I was just about to take Juvia on a tour of the guild, would you like to help me?"

"Aye sir!" Garion exclaimed cheerfully. Makarov chuckled again. _I forgot about that… He'll be happy to see Happy again._ Makarov then gave Juvia the usual introductory tour of the guild, and Garion was surprised and excited to hear the new rule regarding the second floor and S-Class quests. After the tour was done Garion headed over to where Levy was sitting with Jet and Droy, both of whom were glaring at Gajeel with obvious distaste.

"Is something wrong Levy?" Garion asked the blue haired girl. "N-No I'm fine Garion." She replied. She then glanced at Gajeel before shaking again. Garion narrowed his eyes and looked at the iron dragon slayer. He then looked back at Levy. "Did he do something to you?" He asked. Before she could reply, Jet and Droy snorted.

"Yeah. He beat us up and nailed us to a tree _after_ he wrecked the guildhall." Jet said in a tone of loathing.

"Yeah, and now he's _part_ of our guild. I'm pretty sure the old man's going senile." Droy added his tone equally as disgusted.

Levy looked quickly at Garion. "But don't worry about it Garion! We're fine now; it's in the past and doesn't matter anymore." She said quickly. Garion looked at her before turning around and, much to team Shadow Gear's shock, began walking towards Gajeel.

"G-Garion what are-"

"It's alright." Garion said with a grin. "I'm not mad or anything, I just want to talk to him." Levy was about to say more when Jet and Droy stood up and stopped Garion. "Don't talk to him. We know how you always are trying to make friends with everyone, even former enemies, but Gajeel does _not_ deserve it. He destroyed our guild hall, and hurt me, Droy and _Levy._ How can _you,_ of all people, be able to forgive him for _that_?" Jet demanded. Garion just looked at him, and Jet let go of his arm when he saw the serious look on the boy's face.

"Because a person's past doesn't matter when they join Fairy Tail does it? What matters is who they are, not who they were." Garion said seriously. He then smiled. "Plus we shouldn't hate our guild mates. We're all friends, and friends don't hate each other." He added cheerfully. Jet and Droy face palmed.

 _Crap I forgot how naïve he can be sometimes. You'd think someone like him wouldn't be able to forgive people so easily…_ Jet and Droy thought in unison. Levy just looked at him, and he smiled back at her before walking up to the Iron Dragon Slayer, who watched his approach with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you want?" He asked with hostility clear in his tone. Garion stopped and looked at him. "Are you Gajeel Redfox?"

"Yeah I am, so what? You here to yell at me like the rest of your fairy friends?" Gajeel snapped.

"No." Garion smiled. "I'm Garion Angelous; it's nice to meet you and welcome to Fairy Tail! I heard you're a dragon slayer, is that true?" he asked. Gajeel eyed the boy, a single studded eyebrow raised. _What's with this kid… his magical energy's completely different from anything I've ever felt before… not to mention he's the first person, aside from the old geezer, who didn't immediately yell at me. Mph, like I care though._

"Yeah I am, so what?" Gajeel asked, not really caring about the answer. He wasn't even sure why he was still talking to Garion.

"Does that mean you're as strong as Natsu is?" Garion asked. Gajeel sharply turned his head to look at Garion, a scowl on his face.

"No, I'm stronger than that fire breathing idiot. He just got lucky in our fight, that's all." Gajeel growled, the memory of his fight against the fire dragon slayer leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

"But he still beat you." Garion pointed out. "So that means he is stronger than-"He stopped when Gajeel started growling at him. "Listen here kid unless you want me to beat you senseless do NOT talk about Salamander around me." He hissed, not at all amused with the conversation topic. He then looked away from Garion, his arms crossed.

"Are you sorry for what you did?" Garion asked.

Gajeel huffed. "Why should I be?" He asked uncaringly. "Not like I care about this stupid guild."

Garion just looked at Gajeel, frowning. After several seconds, Gajeel looked back at Garion. "What are you staring at?" He asked, actually feeling uncomfortable at the look Garion was giving him. Garion just stared at him, his blue eyes focused on the dragon slayer. Gajeel looked away. Garion smiled sadly. "I understand." He said in a sympathetic voice, much to Gajeel's surprise. He then turned around and walked over to Team shadow gear, who were staring wide eyed at Garion. Gajeel looked at him as he walked away.

 _What the hell was that? What does he mean by 'I understand?'_ Gajeel looked back at the table in front of him, frowning. _That kid… I didn't see him during the war… I wonder where he was…_ Gajeel then tch'd _Like I care._

Garion walked over to Levy and smiled. "It's alright Levy, I think he's sorry for what he did, and he doesn't seem that bad of a person. Besides, if master trusts him, shouldn't we?" He asked. Levy slowly nodded, but Jet and Droy had a different opinion on the matter.

"How can we trust him? He could be a spy from a dark guild for all we know!" Jet roared. Droy nodded in agreement. "Listen Garion, we know how you feel about newcomers and people being left out, but this is different. Gajeel will turn his back on our guild the moment he gets a chance, can't you see that?" Droy explained.

"That's enough you 2." Makarov said, suddenly appearing next to Jet and Droy, causing them to nearly have heart attacks. "If Garion thinks Gajeel belongs in the guild and trusts him, I don't want to hear you 2 trying to change his mind. Also we do not speak badly of other members of our guild, isn't that right Garion?"

"Aye sir!" Garion replied with a grin.

"But master-"Jet and Droy started.

"No buts. My decision is final." Makarov said with finality. Before Jet or Droy could respond, Elfman walked up to the group and then looked at Garion, a grin on his face. "Garion, I think it's about time we had a rematch, don't you?" The white haired man asked. "Yeah!" Garion declared, jumping to his feet and responding to Elfman's grin with one of his own.

Elfman's grin turned to a smirk. "I'll have you know, I'm a lot stronger than when we last fought, so this time I'm going to win! Cause I'm a real man!" He declared, raising his fist. "Great, I can't wait to see!" Garion said back, still grinning. "Alright you 2, take this outside so you don't destroy the guild hall, we _did_ just get it fixed." Makarov said, getting between the 2. The two nodded in agreement.

 _*Training area out the back of the guild hall*_

Garion and Elfman were standing several meters apart in the middle of a white circle, eyes locked on each other, their bodies tense. Elfman was smirking slightly while Garion had a neutral expression. Makarov, Levy, Cana, Jet, Droy, Juvia and even Gajeel were present on the side lines, albeit the iron dragon slayer was several feet away from everyone else and had come simply to watch a fight. Mira had stayed inside to man the bar.

"As always I will be the referee, first one knocked out the circle loses." Makarov explained. The two fighters nodded in acknowledgment.

"So who's betting on who?" Cana asked.

"I bet 100 jewels on Garion." Levy said, handing the money to Cana. "Right, 100 jewels on Garion, anyone else?"

"I bet 100 on Garion too!" Jet and Droy exclaimed in unison. Cana looked at them. "You 2 are just doing that cause Levy betted on him."

"No we aren't!" They exclaimed once more in unison. They then glared at each other. "Okay then I bet 200!" Jet challenged.

"I bet 300 then!" Droy shot back.

"400"

"500"

"600"

"800"

"1000!"

"Alright a 1000 it is!" Cana exclaimed, cutting off any further argument. Levy sweat dropped slightly at the argument between Jet and Droy.

"Juvia bets 1000 on Elfman." Juvia said, ignoring the argument, eyes fixed on the fighters.

"Who are you betting on Cana?" Levy asked the drunkard. The brunette took one look at the fighters before making her choice.

"Garion, 1000 jewels."

"HEY! Don't you guys have any faith in a real man!?" Elfman asked, a very large tick mark present on his forehead.

"No we don't, but we don't have faith in you either." Cana teased. Elfman looked positively ready to _explode_ in anger, but before he could Makarov stopped him.

"Ready…" Makarov said, looking between the two fighters. Both tensed even further.

"BEGIN!"

Elfman charged forwards, his right fist cocked back and ready to strike. Garion met the blow with a punch of his own as Elfman reached him, but the force of the colliding punches pushed Garion back slightly. Not wasting a second, Garion dropped down and tried sweeping Elfman's feet out from under him. The takeover mage saw this coming and jumped backwards, charging forwards again as soon as he landed, bearing down on the now partly prone Garion. The young wizard replied by pushing himself backwards and avoiding Elfman's punch, which collided with the ground and formed a small dent.

Garion landed on his feet and charged forwards, landing a punch on the side of Elfman's face before he could react. The white haired man was knocked back slightly and grunted before quickly replying with a right hook towards Garion's gut, which he twisted out of the way of. He then summoned a ball of white light energy and blasted Elfman with it point blank in the chest, knocking the takeover mage back a few feet. The two grinned at each other.

"I think it's about time we stopped screwing around." Elfman stated enthusiastically.

"Yeah." Garion replied with equal enthusiasm.

"Take over: Beast soul!" Elfman roared before fully transforming into his beast form. Garion's eyes widened at the transformation. "Wait… you can do a full body take over now?" He asked in amazement. Elfman grinned. "That's right." He then held up a fist and clenched it tightly. "Which means I'm not holding back! Let me show you the strength of a real man Garion!"

Garion snapped out of his amazement as Elfman charged him, fist raised. Thinking quickly, Garion's right fist was suddenly coated in his dark purple energy, and he swung, meeting Elfman's punch. "Darkness strike!" He roared. The resulting force caused a small crater to form under their feet. Garion jumped back and began charging an attack, a sphere of purple energy forming in his open hand.

" **Dark Epherium!** " He yelled, launching the sphere at Elfman. The only male Strauss sibling raised his arms to block the attack, and grunted when it impacted, knocking him back and knocking up a dust cloud which made it hard to see Elfman. Gajeel's eyes were wide _Am I seeing things… or is he using dark AND light magic?!_ He wondered.

"Not bad kid. You've definitely gotten stronger, but I'm just getting warmed up!" Elfman declared. Without warning he charged Garion, attempting to catch him off guard. Unfortunately, for Elfman at least, his fist collided with solid ground as opposed to Garion. The spectators were all surprised, and started looking around.

"Up here."

Everyone craned their necks to see Garion, and Gajeel's jaw nearly dropped. Above them was Garion, with _wings_ sticking out his back. They were pure white and seemed to be glowing faintly, but more than that in the middle of each wing towards the ends was the Fairy Tail symbol in light blue. _He has wings just like Salamanders cat… just who or what the hell is this guy?_ Gajeel wondered.

Garion held his hands out next to each other and created a white magic circle in front of his palms. " **Light Rain!** " He stated before several beams of pure white energy shot out the magic circle and started raining down on Elfman, whom raised his arms above his head to block the attacks. Once the barrage stopped, he didn't hesitate and launched himself into the air towards Garion, fist poised and ready to strike. Garion however had the advantage due to his smaller size and managed to dodge the blow before kicking Elfman in the gut which sent him flying downwards and he impacted the ground with a "hmpff" and a loud thud. He got up and shook his head quickly before looking up at Garion who was still floating in the air.

"Hey! A real man fights on the ground you know!" Elfman yelled up at him, slightly annoyed and panting slightly. Garion suddenly looked slightly guilty. "Sorry!" He yelled back down. Instead of simply returning to earth however, he flapped his wings before going into a dive towards Elfman, who braced himself for the impact but prepared himself for anything else Garion might try. As Garion was about to hit Elfman he diverted to the right and flew extremely close to the ground at a speed that made it nearly impossible for Elfman to react, placing him under Elfman's guard. He twisted his body around mid-manoeuvre and charged a sphere of light between his hands.

" **Light grenade**!" He yelled before thrusting his hands forwards and unleashing the attack. Elfman barely managed to twist his body out of the way of the attack, leaving Garion wide open. Without wasting a second the takeover mage swung his fist downwards, landing a solid blow in the middle of Garion's chest, knocking the wind out of him and sending him crashing into the ground and skidding away, stopping just before the edge of the ring.

"Hmm… looks like Elfman might actually win…" Cana said in a worried tone, more about losing her money than Garion getting hurt. Levy still looked confident, a smile on her face. "Garion hasn't used his higher level spells yet, don't call it lost yet." She said. Garion got to his feet, his breathing slightly ragged but a smile on his face.

"You really have gotten stronger Elfman. That last attack really hurt." Garion said, rubbing his chest where he'd been hit. "Yeah, you've also gotten stronger Garion, but it's time I show you what a real man can do!" Elfman declared before charging. "Well I'll show you what I can do!" Garion replied. He held his right hand out, palm facing skywards. Suddenly a spear of pure white light formed in his hand, about a meter long.

" **Angel's spear!** " he yelled before hurling the attack straight at Elfman. The takeover mage's eyes widened slightly and he dived to the right to dodge the spear, which kept going and impacted a tree on the edge of the clearing. It detonated and obliterated the tree it struck along with several nearby trees, leaving a small clearing and crater.

Everyone stared at the destruction caused by Garion's attack. "Wow… he has gotten stronger…" Levy said. "No kidding… that attack never usually did that much damage, not even when Garion was being serious…" Cana said. Levy smiled. "Guess he's growing up huh? He's definitely been getting stronger over the last 6 months and by quite a lot too."

"Yep. Next thing you know he'll have a girlfriend and then the innocent little Garion we've all known will be long gone." Cana said rather with a hint of melancholia, prompting Jet and Droy to glance sideways at her.

Levy looked at Cana. "I'm not so sure about that Cana, I honestly doubt Garion will ever change that much, I'm sure he'll always be the innocent little boy we know and love." The solid script mage said fondly. "Or if he'll ever get one. He can be really naïve sometimes you know. I doubt he could tell the difference between romantic feelings and a rock." Jet pointed out.

"I don't think discussing Garion's love life is of importance right now." Makarov said, smiling slightly. "Let's focus on the fight."

Elfman turned to look at the boy. "You really have gotten stronger…" Elfman then grinned. "But a real man never backs down from a fight!" He resumed charging, and Garion's wings disappeared, his fists becoming coated in dark energy. He charged Elfman, and the two became locked in a close quarter's melee brawl, with neither having a clear advantage at first. After half a minute however, it soon became clear Garion was gaining the advantage. Due to his aforementioned smaller size, he was able to dodge, block and counter the majority of Elfman's heavy attacks and was able to land many small hits and one or 2 big ones.

"Darkness strike!" Garion yelled, enhancing his next punch. His and Elfman's fists collided, sending out a shockwave and knocking Elfman back and throwing him off balance. Seizing his chance, Garion also coated his feet in dark energy before he charged forwards and uppercutted Elfman before kicking him hard in the chest and knocking him out of the ring and onto the ground. Elfman exited his beast soul and got up gingerly, rubbing his chest, but a grin was present on his face. Garion returned the grin, and the energy around his hands and feet dissipated.

"And Garion is the winner!" Makarov declared. The spectators were about to cheer (those that betted for Garion anyway) when they were interrupted by someone's yelling.

"HEY WHO STARTED A FIGHT WITHOUT ME!?"

Everyone turned their head to the source of the noise, and were not surprised to see a certain pink (or salmon) haired dragon slayer was the source of the exclamation. He charged up to the group and stopped when he got next to them, looking intently at Garion and Elfman. It took his brain 3 whole seconds to figure out what he was looking at, and when it did he grinned.

"Hey Garion it's good to see you again!" Natsu exclaimed. "Garion!? Garion's back?" A certain blue exceed asked, flying over and landing next to Natsu. He grinned when he saw Garion. "Garion! We need to have a race again!"

"Happy, Natsu! Good to see you guys again! And yeah we do!" Garion replied, also grinning. "Hey flame brain could you keep it down?" A certain ice mage asked. Natsu instantly spun around and confronted the offender.

"What you say ice princess?"

"I said could you keep your voice down you fire breathing idiot." Gray replied, the two long standing rivals now face to face and ready to begin an all-out brawl. Before either could do anything, a certain S-class mage took notice.

"Natsu, Gray…" She said in a perfectly level tone, completely opposite to the menacing aura she was giving off. "…Are you 2 not getting along?"

Gray and Natsu paled before entering standard pretend-to-be-best-friends-in-front-of-Erza-so-she-doesn't-beat-the-crap-out-of-us formation.

"Yes we are! Best friends forever!"

"Aye sir!"

Erza smiled. "Good. I'm glad to see you 2 getting along."

Lucy sweat dropped _Idiots._

Erza turned away and Gray and Natsu broke formation and started glaring each other. Juvia had been on the verge of saying something, but then Gray had taken his shirt off.

"Juvia? Ah good to see you. I thank you for your help at the tower of Heaven." Erza said upon seeing the water mage. Natsu and Gray looked over and were surprised to see Juvia.

"Juvia?"

"Jania?"

"It's Juvia you fire-breathing dumbass."

"What you say stripper?"

"Boys…"

Formation reassumed.

"Ah yes, I suppose I should introduce you all. Meet Juvia Lockser, one of our newest members." Makarov said. He then looked over at Juvia ogling Gray. "Although I'm sure you're more than well acquainted." He added with a hint of amusement.

"Master, it's good to see you again." Titania said. Makarov turned to look at her. "Erza, it's good to see you again. You as well Lucy, I am glad to see you have nearly completely recovered." He said, nodding to Lucy who had just walked up behind Erza.

"It's good to see you again too master." Lucy replied. She then looked over at Garion and Elfman who had just shaken each other hands and promised they would have another rematch soon. Elfman headed back towards the guild hall and Garion made his way over to where Lucy was. She frowned as she look at him _I haven't seen him around the guild before… maybe he's a new member? Either that or I've just never seen him before._ She thought.

"Hey Erza good to see you again!" Garion cheerfully said to the red haired beauty. Erza smiled softly when she saw Garion. She opened her mouth to reply when suddenly a furious looking Natsu appeared in front of the guild master.

"Why the hell is Gajeel here?" He demanded. Erza and Lucy spun their heads and went wide eyed when they saw Gajeel, and even more so when they saw the Fairy Tail mark on his shoulder. "G-Gajeel!?" Lucy asked in disbelief. Gray was also giving the former Phantom lord wizard a loathing look and seemed to be ignoring Juvia who was trying to explain to him just what was happening.

"Because Natsu, I believe he is a good person at heart-"

"But he hurt our friends! He wrecked our guild hall! How can we trust him after that!?" Natsu demanded, glaring at the iron dragon slayer, who was now walking back to the guild hall, ignoring everyone around him and wearing his signature scowl.

"Yeah as much as I hate to agree with Natsu, he's got a point. That guy is pretty much the reason we went to war with Phantom lord in the first place. And for all we know he could be a spy for a dark guild." Gray chimed in.

"Gray. Clothes." Garion pointed out.

"Oh god dammit!"

"Before you 2 say any more, I would like to tell you that he was acting under Jose's orders, and he carried them through like any loyal guild member would. I ask that you please give him a chance, as I believe he truly does have good in him." Makarov explained. Gray and Natsu snorted in contempt.

"Master, while I do not agree with your decision, I will respect your wishes. However, I recommend that he be watched very closely." Erza said. Makarov let out an inward sigh of relief. _At least with her on my side Natsu and Gray won't argue so much about it._

"Very well. I'll be sure to keep a very close eye on him, and make sure you do as well Erza." Makarov stated. Erza nodded and then turned to Garion, her previously serious expression giving way to a small smile. Natsu and Gray huffed in unison and marched off to the guild hall, not looking all too please at the current state of affairs. They were followed by Cana, Jet, Happy, Droy and Juvia, who had hearts in her eyes since Gray had taken his shirt off. Again.

"Garion. It's good to see you again. How did your mission go?" The S-class wizard asked. "Great! I moved in yesterday and got all the furniture sorted out too. It's a really nice place; you should come over and look sometime!" Garion said cheerfully. Erza nodded. "I shall when I get the chance." Erza then began talking with the master. Garion turned to look at Lucy, who was frowning slightly. He tilted his head slightly. "Who are you?" He asked politely.

"She's the one and only Lucy Heartfilia Garion. Our resident celestial wizard." Levy said, standing next to the celestial wizard. "Levy! Good to see you again, how're you doing?" Lucy asked her blue haired friend. Levy's smile fell slightly.

"I… guess I'm doing fine. But don't worry about me; it's time for you to meet Garion!" The bluenette exclaimed. "Lucy, meet Garion Angelous, one of our youngest and currently strongest members. Also our strongest Light wizard aside from the master, and one of our most unique wizards."

Garion scratched the back of his head nervously. "Ya' know… it's not much of a feat when there's practically no one else who uses light magic aside from the master. And I'm not that strong…or unique…" Garion replied. He then extended a hand out to Lucy and grinned. "It's nice to meet you Lucy!" Lucy couldn't help but smile and shook the boys hand in return. "It's nice to meet you too Garion. If you don't mind, what was Erza asking you about?"

"Oh that. For the last 3 months I was busy doing a whole big bunch of jobs to get money together so I could buy myself a house! It's a really nice place, you should visit sometime." Garion said; his voice filled with excitement. Lucy felt a slight twinge of jealousy at that fact, and there was one question she couldn't help but ask.

"How much did it cost?"

Garion frowned and he looked upwards. Lucy and Levy couldn't help but giggle as Garion scrunched up his face as he tried to remember. His eyes widened and a look of realization came to his face.

"10 million jewels." He said with a smile.

Lucy just stared at him. "1-10 million!?" she asked, her expression one of complete disbelief. She stared at Garion who frowned and tilted his head to the side slightly. "Is something wrong?" He asked with concern in his voice.

Levy was laughing at Lucy. "That's in total. Don't worry I was also surprised when I heard how much it would cost him. The house cost about 6 million and everything else added up to 4 million. At first the person selling the house wanted to sell it to him for 15 million, but Elfman had a friendly "chat" with him about it." Levy said. Lucy sweat dropped. _I_ _think I have an idea as to what 'chat' might mean._ She then looked at Garion.

"So what kind of magic do you use?" She asked him. Garion's face brightened up massively and he grinned.

"2 types actually!" Lucy's eyes almost popped out of her head when he revealed his wings. "This is my angel light magic. It's different from normal light magic because it's white instead of gold. And it's also apparently a lot stronger too." He explained as he summoned a ball of white light between his hands. Lucy just stared at his wings, which were glowing faintly. "They're so beautiful…" Lucy said, referring to Garion's wings.

Garion blushed. "Well… gee thanks…" He scratched his head nervously. Levy laughed. "You've made him blush Lu!"

Garion's wings faded. "And this…" His arms became coated in dark purple energy and his skin along his arms gained a purple tint. "…this is my Demons darkness magic." He formed a ball of purple energy in his hands. _I've never heard of these magic's before…_ Lucy thought in wonder.

"That's some pretty cool magic, where'd you learn it?"

Garion's smile faltered. "I… I…was born with it…" he said, his magic dissipating. He looked down at the ground with a sad look on his face. He instantly perked up a second later and grinned. "So that's my magic! You're a celestial wizard aren't you?"

A smile spread across Lucy's face and she rested her hand on her keys. "That's right. I've got some pretty cool spirits. Oh do you know Loke?"

Garion frowned, obviously thinking the question over. He then asked a rather surprising question.

"Who's Loke?"

Lucy stared at him, not sure exactly how to feel. "Spiky hair, glasses, spends lots of time around girls, never met him?" She asked. The dual element wizard frowned again, and Levy giggled softly. "He's so cute when he does that." She whispered to Lucy.

Garion then shook his head. "Sorry, don't know him. Is he in our guild?"

"I… guess you could say that. It's not important right now. Hey Garion want to go see if Happy wants a race?" Levy said, changing the subject. Garion's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "That's an awesome idea Lev, I reckon this time I can beat him!" And without another word, he sprinted off to the guild hall, grinning all the way.

"Lev?" Lucy asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked at her friend.

"It's a nickname he uses from time to time. I think it's cute."

"He sure is an energetic one isn't he?" Lucy asked with a smile.

"Yeah. I don't think I've ever really seen him exhausted or tired before, except in fights and…" Levy stopped, a look that was both pained and sad crossing her features. Lucy barely registered it when Levy's expression returned to a cheerful one. "Yeah, just when he fights. I don't think I've seen anyone else with as much energy. Well, except for Natsu and Happy probably."

Lucy eyed her friend but didn't press the issue. "Probably, those 2 never seem to sit still for very long either." She commented in a light hearted tone. Thoughts of the fire dragon slayer filled her mind along with memories of all they had been through.

"But then again, they are also idiots." Lucy added.

"Oh come on Lucy they aren't that bad."

Lucy stared at her.

"Okay, maybe just a tiny bit…"

Lucy kept staring.

"Okay… maybe just a little…"

Yep still staring.

"Okay they are, but their innocent idiots aren't they?"

"I guess you could say that." Lucy said with slight exasperation. "Wait… you said something about him racing Happy…"

"Oh yeah, he does that from time to time. He doesn't do it for any other reason than to just have fun, I mean he loves flying, and Happy does as well so they get along really well. When Garion loses Happy makes him buy him lots of fish." _Not surprising_ Lucy thought. "When Garion wins he never really asks for anything, except that Happy gets faster so the race can be even more exciting next time. It's made the 2 best friends, and also has made Garion sometimes talk like Happy." Levy said with a fond smile on her face.

"So that means he says…?" She asked, fearful of the answer.

"Yeah, but he doesn't do it a lot." Lucy sighed in relief _Phew_

"I'm sure you'll get along with him really well." Levy said with a smile.

"Good to hear and I hope I will. He really does seem nice." Lucy smiled.

"Oh how's your novel coming along?" the bookworm unsurprisingly asked.

"Great, I guess. Although I didn't really get time to write much on vacation, since we were busy saving the world again." Lucy said. "Yeah, but writing a book can be just as exciting you know!" Levy said; her usual enthusiasm when books were involved coming to the surface.

"Well we should probably get back inside, who knows how long until-"

 ***BOOM***

"… someone starts fighting." Lucy finished, sweat dropping and sighing at the plume of smoke rising from the guild hall, giving a clear indication exactly who was presently fighting. Levy nervously laughed. "Well at least everyone's back in usual spirits." The word mage said. The two teens started walking back to the guild hall, making idle chatter the whole way.

The scene inside the guild hall honestly wasn't that surprising to Lucy and Levy.

According to Garion, who was sitting at the bar with Happy, Gajeel had _accidentally_ stepped on Natsu's foot whilst Mira had been singing, and this had resulted in Natsu _accidentally_ punching Gajeel in the face, which _accidentally_ lead to a free-for-all battle royal in the middle of the guild hall. Lucy sighed as cups; plates, chairs, tables, people and magic flew outwards from the massive brawl in the middle of the guild in every direction, and shrieked when several of the aforementioned objects nearly hit her.

" **ENOUGH YOU BRATS!** " Makarov roared, enlarging and smashing his fist down onto the middle of the brawl. The fighting abruptly stopped as several of the main combatant's now resembled pancakes, amongst them Natsu and Gajeel. The rest wisely decided that continuing the fight was not worth getting flattened by the guild master. He retracted his fist and returned it to normal size. Natsu and Gajeel slowly stood up; their bodies returning to normal shape and their expressions clearly showing they were not very happy their fight had been interrupted. Mira walked out from behind the bar and started giving orders to Jet, Droy and Elfman regarding cleaning up the mess.

Levy turned to look at Garion. "What kind of adventures did you go on over the last 3 months?" She asked

"Yeah did you find any really tasty looking fish?" Happy asked. Lucy just looked at Happy. "Is fish the only thing you ever think about?" She asked exasperated.

"No. I also think about how much you loooooovvveee Loke." Happy teased. Lucy immediately gained a rather large tick mark on her forehead.

"I do not you stupid cat!" She snapped. Happy held his hands to his mouth to stifle his laughter. "Yeah. You like Natsu!"

Lucy's face turned a shade of red. Be it from anger or embarrassment, Happy didn't exactly have time to figure out. "No I don't! Shut up you stupid talking cat!" She yelled before taking a swing at Happy and hitting the feline, sending him flying across the bar. Lucy blinked in surprise and looked at her hand. _I've never actually hit him before…_ Said feline got up from where he landed and rubbed his head. "Ow…"

Levy and Garion were laughing at Lucy and Happy's antics. Garion looked around with a warm smile on his face, observing the other members of the guild. Natsu looked like he wanted to puke his guts out despite not being on any form of transportation; Gajeel was laughing at him, Elfman was yelling at Jet and Droy whilst carrying the ruins of destroyed tables around, Mira was busy ordering several guild members around as they cleared up the mess, Macco and Wakaba were talking about what they usually talk about, Cana was juggling looking at her cards and getting drunk, Gray was sitting at one of the tables, trying to ignore Juvia ogling him and Makarov was talking to Erza about something.

 _Nothing's really changed… but that's not a bad thing._ Garion thought. He started telling Lucy and Levy about his adventures, and as he was he had one thought running through his mind.

 _It's good to be home._

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 **And that's the chapter! I hope you enjoyed and please leave a review telling me what you thought. I tried my best to get the personalities of the characters and feel of Fairy Tail right, so please tell me if I did or didn't.**

 **Next chapter launches us straight into the battle of Fairy tail arc. I hope you guys like Garion's powers and the names for them (I honestly couldn't think of anything better).**

 **Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!**


	3. The battle of Fairy Tail

**Hello there! I've got a few things to just say, for starters, thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites this story has gotten so far. It's really awesome! You guys are great. The second thing is about recent revelations in the Manga of FT. I won't spoil anything, but regarding the most recent chapters, I'm feeling mind blown. Like seriously... I did not see that coming. Those of you who are up to date will understand what I'm talking about.**

 **And yes this chapter is long, but I figured I might as well get the BOFT out of the way all at once. I originally wanted to split it in half, but since updates are only once a month, I figured 'Why not make it one chapter?' and since I want to get onto when Garion and Wendy meet, which is the exciting part :D And yes I've changed a few things, but everyone who writes fan fiction does that (usually). And yes I skipped parts, but if you've seen the show/read the manga you know what's going on around Garion during the story. Future chapters may not be this long, or they may. Rest assured, this is the only arc I'll be covering in one chapter.**

 **And before you lynch me for any changes or things i do, please read the ending authors note first.**

 **Call me lazy... cause that's kinda what I am :D**

 **Anyway, enough about that, lets get on with the story!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

Chapter 3: The battle of Fairy tail

The Harvest Festival was in full swing. All across Magnolia there were stands selling all sorts of goodies, from food to Fairy Tail accessories such as balloons with the mark of the guild on them. Banners and streamers hung from archways and windows, great numbers of balloons were strung together and reached into the air and everyone was chatting, laughing and smiling. Many of the wizards of Fairy Tail were wandering around, taking part in the festivities of the day, but everyone was looking forwards to the Fantasia Parade, the grand Finale of the celebrations.

Garion was grinning as he practically skipped through the streets, the usual happiness that prevailed his personality enhanced by the atmosphere of the day. He was also excited as master Makarov had asked him to take part in the Fantasia Parade. The thought made his excitement swell even further and his grin somehow got wider. He'd never taken part before, always being a spectator for most of his time at the guild but now he would be part of it, and the thought filled him with joy to no end. As he moved around the town, he bought a few things, talked to some people, helped those who needed it, he even bought a gift for a young boy who'd gotten lost before taking him back to his parents. The boy's parents had been overjoyed to see their son again, and Garion had refused any measure of reward, even giving them more money so they could enjoy the festival.

As he rounded a corner to a marketplace, he stopped and tilted his head slightly in confusion when he saw Natsu slowly creeping forwards with Happy jumping up and down next to him in front of one of the stalls. He walked over to the pair and first looked at Natsu then at Happy. "Is something wrong with Natsu?" Garion asked. Happy shook his head. "Nah, he's just hungry. I'll make sure he's fed, don't you worry!" Happy declared. Garion's grin returned and he nodded. He then noticed Gray, Lucy and Juvia standing a bit away and walked over to them. "Hey guys!" He said. The three wizards smiled back at him and were about to return the greeting when someone spoke.

"You haven't changed a bit Gray." A voice said from behind the three wizards. The 3 turned around and Grey smiled. "Hey Warren it's been a while!" He said. Garion stopped next to Juvia and looked at Warren. The young boy didn't know the telepathy wizard all that well, so he just smiled. "Didn't think I'd make it back in time for the festival but here I am." Warren said.

"This guy takes on so many jobs we hardly ever see him." Gray explained. "Wow." Lucy said. Juvia stepped forwards, a smile on her face. "Hello I'm a new recruit. My names Juvia." she said politely. Warren looked at her. "Ah, so you're the one I've been hearing about." He then glanced at Garion. "And good to see you too Garion. Nice to have you back." Garion nodded. "Thanks Warren! It's great to be back. Good to see you too!" Garion said cheerfully, Lucy and Juvia having to stifle giggles at the enthusiasm pouring from his voice.

"Meet Warren Rocko, he's a master of telepathy magic." Grey stated, fully introducing his friend. "It's nice to meet you." Warren said to Juvia. "Thank you the pleasure is all mine." Juvia replied. She then looked around. "This festival is quite a sight." She remarked. "Yeah! The harvest festival is really popular in Fiore, people come from everywhere to be part of it! But they mostly come for the fantasia parade, which is the coolest part of the whole festival!" Garion said quickly, his enthusiasm and excitement not being lost on the others present. Lucy couldn't help but grin. "I can't wait to see the Fantasia parade for myself!" She said cheerfully.

"You're in the parade remember?" Gray pointed out. Lucy blinked and then looked up at the sky. "Wasn't there something else I was supposed to be in?" she asked out loud. Realisation dawned on her features a moment later.

"I forgot all about the Miss Fairy Tail contest! MY RENT MONEY!" She yelled the last part whilst sprinting off. Juvia turned to watch her run and a dark aura surrounded her. "A contest? I refuse to be out done by that bimbo." She declared. Gray glanced sideways at her. "So I guess you'll be entering too." He remarked dryly. The aura remained around Juvia for a moment longer before it faded. She then turned to Garion. "Thank you, by the way, for trying to help Gajeel get used to the guild. I know it might seem like he doesn't care, but he really appreciates the effort." She said sincerely to Garion. The young wizard just grinned. "No problem! I've gotten used to him telling me to go away, I can tell he doesn't really mean it. Besides I can't just let someone in the guild be all on their own."

Garion had spent the last few days trying to become friends with Gajeel, much to the Iron dragon slayers displeasure. At first Gajeel had just stomped off whenever Garion tried to talk to him, then he resorted to shouting at the dual element wizard and finally he tried telling him to go away all the time. Garion however, had noticed a decreased effort behind Gajeel's attempts to get rid of him. It wasn't much, but Garion noticed it.

Juvia nodded and smiled at Garion. "Thank you Garion. I appreciate the effort and thank you once again. Now..." She turned. "I must prepare for this 'Miss Fairy Tail' contest so I can beat that bimbo." And with that, the water wizard marched off. Garion tilted his head and looked at Gray with a frown. "Why's the Miss Fairy Tail contest such a big deal? It's never made much sense to me." He said. Gray shrugged. "You'll figure out later." He said, not wanting to explain the exact reason for the contest, for many reasons. Garion's frown deepened slightly but he shrugged and his smile returned to his face. "See you later guys!" He said before charging off into the crowd.

 _*Some time later, Fairy Tail guild hall*_

Garion walked into the guild hall just over halfway through the Miss Fairy Tail contest, just as Levy finished her display. Bisca went up and did her display, but Garion wasn't watching. He was eating an apple he'd just bought from one of the stores, and it was exceptionally tasty. He heard Lucy called up and he looked up to give a cheer, but blinked when he saw Evergreen on stage. He tilted his head to the side slightly. _Why's Evergreen already on stage? Lucy hasn't had her turn yet._ He thought. He didn't know a lot about the Thunder god tribe, and he'd never really interacted with them either. He knew they usually meant bad news when they showed up, so he wasn't completely relaxed.

Lucy seemed to start yelling at Evergreen, and Garion's eyes widened when Lucy was turned to stone. "This is bad, everyone get out of here now!" Max yelled into the microphone. All the non guild members didn't hesitate and started scrambling for the door. Figuring he needed to find out what was going on, Garion summoned his wings and flew to the front of the hall. As he got halfway, the curtain was drawn upwards, and he froze when he saw Levy had been turned to stone. "Levy!" he nearly yelled. He landed next to Gray, his body fully tensed.

"No Mira!" Elfman said, panic in his voice. "She got Erza too!?" Happy asked, disbelief in his tone. "Don't be a fool! Return them to normal this instant!" Makarov demanded. A moment later a light appeared above the stage, and then a bolt of lightning collided with the stage. "Looks like all your fans decided to head home. Pity! Since the party's about to start!" Laxus said with a smirk. Garion started and looked to the right to see Freed, and to the left to see Bikslow. "The thunder legion..." Macao muttered. "What the heck are you guys trying to pull!?" Wakaba demanded. Garion looked back at Levy, petrified on stage. "Come on, lets have some fun!" The lightning mage said with a smirk. "I've had about enough of your nonsense, turn them back at once!" Makarov demanded.

Laxus chuckled. "You better play nice if you want these girls to join the parade..." A moment later a light appeared above Lucy, and the next a bolt of lightning crashed down dangerously close to her. "In other words I'm taking all of them hostage. Break the rules and I'll shatter these chicks one by one. Or I could just smash em all right now." Garion's eyes widened at that. _Wh-Why is Laxus threatening to hurt members of the guild!?_ Garion wondered, shocked by what Laxus was doing. "I'm not amused Laxus stop fooling around!" Makarov demanded, becoming more enraged with each passing second. "I'm serious old man." Freed jumped down to land next to Laxus. "I've always wondered who was the strongest in the guild, now its time to find out." He declared. Bickslow landed on the side of Laxus. "Yeah lets have some fun!" He said. "Fun! Fun!" His little totems chanted

"There's only one rule, whoever's left standing in the end is the winner!" Laxus said with a grin. Garion just stared at him. "It's a Fairy Tail battle Royal!" The lightning mage finished with. "Nice and simple, that's just how I like it. I'm fired up now." Natsu declared, punching the table next to him with a fire coated fist. "Glad you can see it my way. If nothing else you've got the right attitude." Laxus said with a smirk. "Natsu..." Makarov said dangerously. "Come on Gramps it's a festival right?"

"Exactly." Garion said, but in an opposite tone to Natsu's. "See? Even Garion agree's with me." Natsu said as he walked forwards. "Let's party."

"I never said I agreed with you Natsu. It's a festival, so let them go. And Gildarts is the strongest in the guild, everyone knows that." Garion said, looking at Laxus. The blond haired man raised an eyebrow. "And why should I do that?" The blond chuckled. "Well the old geezer isn't here so he doesn't count. And just a hint, I suggest you sit this one out squirt, you don't look like your cut out for this." Laxus taunted, before returning his attention to the others in the guild hall.

In the middle of their exchange Natsu had lunged at Laxus. Without even lifting a finger the lightning wizard struck Natsu down with a lightning bolt. Garion did his best to glare at Laxus, and he started to feel tinges of anger, something he rarely felt. "Naturally if you want to turn the girls back to normal you're going to have to defeat us first." Evergreen explained. "But those odds aren't bad. There's 4 of us and like a hundred of you guys, hahaha!" Bikslow added. "You have 3 hours and not a second more. After that these pretty statues of yours will be reduced to dust." Garion's eyes widened in shock. "No... you can't be serious!" Garion yelled, but he was never heard by Evergreen.

"All of Magnolia will serve as the battle field. The fight will begin when and if you can find us." Laxus explained, still wearing his smirk. Makarov glared at him in shock and anger. "Laxus! How could you..." The master of Fairy Tail gritted his teeth and began enlarging himself via his titan magic. **"I WON'T STAND FOR THIS!"** He roared. Laxus's smirk grew even wider. "Now now simmer down old man! It's all part of the festival right!?" Suddenly the thunder legion was engulfed in a blinding flash of light, forcing everyone to look away. "Haha! It'll be fun. Let the battle of Fairy Tail, begin!" and with one last flash, the thunder legion was gone.

"So it's high stakes, high reward hide and seek huh?" Macao asked. "Let's go! We gotta man up and save our girls!" Elfman declared. As a group, the majority of the Fairy Tail wizards charged out, leaving only a few. Makarov, enraged, charged towards the door after Gray. Garion was still standing by the front, and for several moments stood frozen, staring at the petrified girls on stage. His brain then kicked into action and he spun around and headed to the door where Makarov had seen Gray off and was now walking back into the building. Garion stopped as he reached the old man.

"Master? What's wrong?" He asked. Makarov looked at Garion. "One of Freed's enchantments is keeping me from leaving Garion. I'm sorry, but I won't be able to help in this battle." He then frowned. _Garion maybe? His magical power has certainly increased significantly in the last year or so, and I've yet to see just how much stronger he's gotten over the last 2 months. I don't like sending Garion into a situation like this, but right now I don't have a choice._ "Garion, listen to me. As much as I don't like it, we need to play by Laxus's rules. He is hiding out there somewhere, and I need you to go find him and beat him!" Makarov ordered, pointing towards the open doorway as he finished his sentence. Garion blinked and then with a start realised what Makarov had said.

"M-M-Me!?" He asked, shock clear in his tone. "F-Fight Laxus?" He asked. Makarov mentally kicked himself. _I forgot Garion isn't like most other members of the guild, he actually knows when to not pick a fight._ "I-I can't fight him! H-he's an S-Class wizard! Plus he's really, really strong so I can't hope to beat him!" Garion said nervously. "Listen to me Garion." Makarov started. "I know that, but you've been growing stronger at an impressive rate over the past 6 months. I believe you have the power needed to defeat Laxus. And remember one other thing, you have the strength of the rest of the guild behind you, Laxus doesn't. Believe in yourself and your strength and I'm confident you will be able to defeat him."

Despite the guild master's encouragement, Garion still felt nervous about the idea. "O-Okay... I'll... I'll... I'll do it!" He declared, nodding his head in affirmative. "I'll give it my best shot!" Makarov smiled at the boy "Glad to hear it, now go find him!" Garion nodded in agreement before running towards the door. He crossed over the threshold of the barrier before he stopped and looked back. "Master, I was thinking of finding Evergreen first and getting her to turn the girls back to normal." The boy explained. Makarov looked at him and realisation dawned in his eyes. "Excellent idea my boy!" Makarov praised. "Now get out there and good luck!"

Garion nodded again and turned to run into the city. "Thanks master!"

* * *

 _*Some time later*_

"Come on where is she?" Garion asked himself as he ran through the city. He was currently trying to sense where Evergreen was via her magical energy. Unlike most wizards, Garion could sense the presence of other magic users naturally and at an impressive distance. He'd been told it was some kind of special ability he'd been born with, his enhanced magical awareness, and that it was something he should always make good use of.

Normally he'd have been easily able to find another wizard anywhere in Magnolia simply by sensing where they were. Unfortunately due to all the fighting going on, along with the high number of wizards and the fact he had no idea what Evergreen's magical presence felt like, he was practically on a goose chase. He stopped as he reached an intersection and frowned as he looked around.

"Why is everyone fighting? Shouldn't we be trying to find Laxus and the thunder legion instead of fighting each other?" He asked himself. He spread his wings and took to the sky, looking around to try and spot Evergreen. "This doesn't make sense... none of it does. You don't fight your friends like this." Garion continued. He had nothing against the usual brawls that took place inside the guild, since they were never serious and always just part of the atmosphere of the guild.

But this 'Battle of Fairy Tail'... it was different, it was wrong. Garion's mind was unable to wrap itself around Laxus's motivation for this whole 'event'. Why was being the strongest in the guild such a big deal? Garion thought having friends was more important than having strength. He spun his head around sharply when he sensed a familiar magical energy. It was Elfman, and it was weakening. Without a moment of hesitation he flapped his wings and took off towards the source of the energy. When he arrived, his eyes widened as he saw Elfman had been petrified as well.

"Elfman!" Garion cried out. He flew down and landed next to the man. He stared in disbelief at the stone statue that was his close friend. "No way... she managed to beat you?" He asked out loud. Elfman obviously didn't respond, and Garion felt his nerves acting up again, _How can I beat someone Elfman couldn't?_

 _Believe in yourself... you've been growing stronger..._ Makarov's words echoed in Garion's mind. He looked at the petrified Elfman. "I can do it." He said, a bit unsure.

"Oh can you now?" A voice mocked from above.

Garion spun around and looked up to see Evergreen floating in the air, her fan held up in front of her face. "I don't seem to recognise you... no matter, not like you matter much anyway." Evergreen said with a bored tone. She reached up for her glasses. "I suppose I'll leave you as a statue next to him, since you seem to know him, I think it would be appropriate."

Garion jammed his eyes shut before the thunder legion member could take her glasses off, electing a laugh from the women. "Oh my. He tried the same thing and look what happened to him. Just give up, there's no way you can ever hope to beat me."

"Turn them back now!" Garion demanded, electing another laugh from Evergreen. "You shouldn't be doing this! It's wrong!" the young wizard continued. "Is it? I'd say its perfectly fine, what's wrong with proving you're the strongest?" Evergreen chided. Evergreen moved her arms through the air and summoned a large number of dust particles and sent them towards Garion. "Fairy bomb: Gremlin!" she said as the dust particles drew closer to Garion. She had a smirk on her face, confident this one attack would end the fight before it even started.

Garion sensed the attack approaching, and much to Evergreens shock dodged it before it even had a chance to damage him, spreading his wings and throwing himself into the sky to dodge the attack. Evergreen tried to appear unfazed by Garion's unexpected dodging of her attack, but when her eyes landed on his wings, her expression changed to one of shock. "H-How dare you try to imitate me!" She roared, sending another wave of her dust towards Garion. He once more felt the attack approaching and managed to dodge, flying horizontally to the right. _I need to finish this fast._ Garion thought. _And what does she mean by 'imitate'?_

The only female member of the Thunder Legion was quickly growing tired of the fight. _If he wasn't able to somehow know when my attacks were coming this'd be over already_ Evergreen thought in annoyance. An idea popped into her head, and heeding its advice, she split off a stream of her fairy dust and had it come at Garion from the other direction. "Now pay the price for trying to imitate me!" She shouted triumphantly. "Fairy machine gun: Leprechaun!"

Garion sensed the pincer manoeuvre around the same time Evergreen made her deceleration. Summoning his light magic, Garion formed a spear in his hand and threw it straight at Evergreen and once it left his hand curled himself into a ball. Light surrounded him and a moment later he extend his arms out in a star shape, the action causing the magic that had built up around him to explode outwards in a wave, blasting all of Evergreens fairy dust away. Evergreen herself had been forced to dodge Garion's attack, which had burst into smaller beams of light once it passed by her and a few had managed to hit her.

Garion's eyes were still jammed shut, and the sight of it infuriated Evergreen even more. How could some trash from the guild be getting the upper hand on her? Her! Evergreen! The only one truly worthy of the title of Fairy! "What do you mean by 'imitate'?" Garion asked. The Fairy magic user blinked in confusion before getting even more enraged. "What do I mean? Simple! How dare you try and copy my beautiful fairy wings!" Evergreen yelled. Garion, as always, tilted his head and frowned.

"But I've got angel wings, not Fairy wings." He plainly stated. Evergreen blinked again before reasserting her cool, calm mood from not too long ago. "Well in that case, I should tell you, fairy's are better than angels, so I hope you're ready to lose this."

Garion's face turned serious. "Not whilst my friends are in danger." He said. Evergreen chuckled. "How noble of you. I'm sure they'll appreciate the thought when they fade away into dust." Evergreen waved her arm, sending yet another wave of her Fairy dust towards Garion. The dual element wizard didn't hesitate, he launched another spear towards Evergreen and shot off to the right in a round arc, firing smaller balls of light as he went. Evergreen dodged his attacks and their follow ups without much difficulty. "You're going to have to try harder than that!" She taunted.

Suddenly Garion stopped moving sideways and shot forwards, straight towards Evergreen, causing her to smirk. "Do you really think that will work?" She asked. "Fairy bomb: Gremlin!" She commanded, her magic shooting towards Garion, ready to detonate. Garion changed course with a sharp upwards turn, avoiding the explosions. _I don't have time to mess around. As much as I don't like it, I'm going to have to finish her off with this attack._ Garion thought grimly. Before Evergreen could say anything he brought his arms across his chest like in a X shape. He then spread his arms outwards and summoned a spear of light in both of them and hurled them at Evergreen. She just smirked and moved backwards to-

She was blasted forwards.

Regaining her balance, she looked around, and for a single moment her eyes went wide when she realised Garion had trapped her in a sphere of his light magic, stopping her from dodging his spells. This realisation only lasted a moment, as in the next one the spears reached her and detonated, the blast knocking her out and sending her flying towards the ground. Before she could impact the cold, hard stone of the street surface, Garion shot around and managed to catch her, switching to his darkness magic to withstand the impact.

Once the dust cleared, Garion climbed out the small crater his landing had made, his legs slightly sore. He gently laid the unconscious Evergreen down on a grass patch by the side of the road. His breathing was mildly ragged and a bit faster than normal but it was slowing down. He looked at the defeated form of Evergreen and then looked down at his own hand.

"I did it..." he muttered. He then looked back at Evergreen and felt a stab of guilt. "I'm sorry I had to fight you." he paused. "Why? Why is this happening? This doesn't make any sense..." Garion said to himself. He glanced over and noticed Elfman's unconscious form. He ran over to check if he was alright, and let out a sigh of relief when he was alive and breathing, albeit unconscious. Garion collapsed onto the ground next to him, deciding he needed to take a break.

 _*Some time later*_

"What are those? Lightning Lacrima? What's going on?"

Garion was running through the streets of Magnolia as fast as he could. The strange Lacrima had appeared in the sky not too long ago, and he'd left Elfman after he'd sensed Mira was heading towards him. Right now, he was trying to find Laxus, and figure out what was going on.

"First the hostages and now these Lacrima?" He knew Laxus was responsible since he'd sensed that the magical energy contained in them was clearly Laxus's magical power. Garion had a sinking feeling he knew what they would do, but he didn't want to-

A massive surge of power from the cathedral pulled him out of his thoughts and stopped him in his tracks. He blinked and frowned, he could tell some of it had been Laxus's, but the rest of it... he didn't recognise. Deciding it wasn't important, Garion unfurled his wings, took to the skys, and made haste for the cathedral.

* * *

 _*Kardia Cathedral*_

As Garion arrived, he noticed Natsu and Erza along with some blue haired man Garion had never seen before and Laxus seemingly having a conversation. The next moment, the blue haired man vanished, and the one after that Laxus blasted Erza with lightning. "ERZA!" Garion cried as he landed. He rushed to her side as Natsu lept into the fray against Laxus. "Erza are you al-"

"Help Natsu!" Erza said, clearly in pain. Garion nodded, doing his best to quell the nervousness in his stomach. He turned to face Laxus, and unfurled his wings. Natsu charged at Laxus, fists aflame and ready to strike. "Didn't anyone ever tell ya you've got to think before you act kid?" Laxus taunted as Natsu charged him. Laxus summoned his lighting to his palm. "Now get lost!" He yelled. Garion charged into the fight but kept at a distance. Laxus sent the attack towards Natsu, who dodged. "Fire dragon talon!" he roared, swinging his leg down. Laxus smirked as he blocked the attack and forced Natsu away. As he did so, Garion took the opportunity and summoned a spear of light in his hand and hurled it straight at the lightning mage.

Laxus tch'd before he dodged the spell. "Get lost!" He yelled again, sending a bolt of lightning towards Garion. The young wizard barely managed to dodge the attack and sent another spear flying towards Laxus. The blond dodged this one too and sent yet another bolt towards Garion, who hissed in pain when it scraped his right arm, burning the fabric of his shirt away where it had scraped him.

"Hey Garion I said Laxus was mine!" Natsu winged. Garion looked at him, his face serious. "I know that Natsu." He looked at Laxus. "But Laxus put our guild mates in danger. And master asked me to fight him, and we can't going against what he's told us to do right?" Garion asked, hiding his nervousness. Natsu looked at him, and seemed to begrudgingly accept that fact. "Fine but I get to beat him up the most then! Lets do this!"

"Be careful!" Erza warned, her tone panicked. Natsu looked at her and grinned. "I'm okay, you ain't gotta worry about me or Garion. We've got this right?" He turned his head to face the younger wizard. Garion nodded in reply, prompting Natsu to grin even more. Laxus smirked and charged forwards without warning, fists coated in lightning. He punched Garion in the face, sending him flying into a pillar. Natsu lunged forwards, fist coated in fire, but Laxus stomped him into the ground with a lightning coated foot almost instantly. "Darkness strike!" Garion yelled, swinging his fist in an arc towards Laxus's head. The lightning mage caught it and simply jolted Garion with a large burst of lightning before pulling him close and head butting him away.

He cocked his arm back to deliver a follow up lightning strike, but Natsu managed to force the lightning mages foot off his head and quickly tried to deliver a round house kick. Laxus blocked and blasted Natsu in the face with more lightning, sending him flying away. Across the room, Garion had forced himself onto his knees, his body wracked with pain. _This is even harder than I thought, he's so strong!_ Garion shook his head _No, I-we have to beat him._ Garion forced himself to his feet. He watched and recovered his strength as Erza briefly sparred with Laxus, and when she left the cathedral, he sprung back into action.

Laxus was furious that Natsu had blasted him at point blank with a fire dragon's roar. Natsu pushed him even further back with a quick fire dragon's iron fist, and then Garion chipped in. "Dark epherium!" He yelled, unleashing the sphere of swirling purple magic at Laxus. The lightning mage blasted it away with a bolt of lightning, but was now open to an attack.

"Fire dragon: Brilliant flame!" Natsu yelled, hurling the attack at Laxus. It was quickly countered with another bolt of lightning. "Don't you see what's happened to our guild Natsu?" Laxus asked. "What are you talking about?" Natsu shot back. "Fairy tail's nothing but a joke now!" the blond man roared, summoning a field of lightning around himself, bolts striking out at Natsu and Garion. "When I become master our name will strike fear into peoples hearts!"

Garion's eyes widened just before he jumped into the air and took flight to dodge another arc of lightning. Unfortunately Natsu wasn't so lucky and was blasted against a pillar before falling to the floor. Garion looked at Laxus and started shouting. "You've got it wrong Laxus! Fairy Tail isn't meant to strike fear into people's hearts, its meant to inspire hop-"

"SHUT UP YOU BRAT!" A massive bolt of lightning struck Garion, causing him to scream in pain. "Garion! Grr..." Natsu forced himself to his feet, but Laxus shocked him with another bolt of lightning, forcing him to the ground. He glanced at the timer. "1 minute and 20 seconds... is the old man really going to let everyone die?" Laxus asked himself.

"It's over Laxus!" Natsu said, bravado coming from apparently no where. "What do you mean?" He demanded. "You'll never get Fairy Tail... cause Erza's gonna stop your spell!" Garion said, forcing himself unsteadily to his feet. "Yeah! Give it up Laxus, it's over!" Natsu said before charging at the lightning mage. Laxus blocked the attack, and once more sent Natsu flying away with a lightning coated fist.

Garion was about to get up when he heard a voice inside his head. _"Hey Fairy tailers, can you hear me?"_ Warren's voice sounded through Garion's mind. A myriad of reply's came through afterwards. " _Hey guys listen, we need to take down those Lacrima."_ That instantly sparked off a rather noisy argument, and Garion felt his heart drop as it got worse and worse. Eventually Lucy came to the rescue, and after a rousing speech, managed to get everyone to work together to destroy the Lacrima's. As they exploded, the timer hovering in the air behind Laxus faded away. Garion felt a wave of relief wash through him and he let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

" _You idiots... why would you do something so reckless..."_ Erza's voice sounded inside Garion's head. _"Heh... we should ask you the same thing..."_ Gray responded. _"Heh... we really do make a great guild don't we?"_ Erza asked. _"Yeah... if only Laxus could get over his rebellious stage..."_ Garion's smile grew wider as several more comments came through the telepathy. He walked forwards a bit, taking position a bit off to the right side of Natsu.

"Weren't you saying something about our guild needing to change?" Natsu asked, throwing a glance at Garion to see if he was alright. The boy nodded and looked at Laxus. "You don't understand Laxus. Being a family is what Fairy Tail is all about. It's not about being the strongest, it's not about being better than everyone else, it's about being together with people you care about, your friends, and working together to make sure everyone's alright. As the master said once 'One person's loss is everyone's loss, one person's happiness is everyone's happiness'. Isn't that right Natsu?" Garion looked at the dragon slayer as he finished, and he got a toothy grin and a nod in reply. "Yeah! Besides how can you expect to become master when you don't even understand what Fairy Tail's all about?" Natsu asked.

Laxus didn't answer, and for a moment stood completely still. Without warning he let out an enraged roar, yellow lightning engulfing his form. The sudden blast of power forced Garion and Natsu back a few steps and forced them to shield their eyes. "I'LL TAKE IT BY FORCE THEN! FAIRY TAIL IS MINE!" Laxus roared in anger. Natsu gritted his teeth and shouted back at him "JUST GIVE UP! You're not taking over Fairy tail, CAUSE WE'RE NOT GONNA LET THAT HAPPEN!"

Laxus just glared at Natsu. "Oh yeah? You don't seem to know who you're messing with. I'm a lot stronger than any of you ever imagined, I could take over the guild by force ANY TIME I WANT!" The lightning around his body flared up even more, getting more violent and powerful. "AND YOU'RE NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO STOP ME! NOT YOU OR THAT SQUIRT! NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

Natsu growled and lighted his fist on fire, Garion summoned a spear of light in his hand and summoned his wings. "Sounds like you're just begging for someone to knock you down a few notches, we can do that!" Natsu leapt into the air and Garion circled around. "Fire dragon iron fist!" The attack connected with Laxus's head but had no visible effect. Before the lightning mage could react, a spear of light collided with his side and whilst it didn't do any damage, it allowed Natsu to continue to attack.

"Fire dragon talon!" He yelled, sending a flame coated foot towards Laxus's chin. Before the attack collided, Laxus roared in anger and blasted Natsu into one of the pillars in the cathedral. The blond wizard turned to face Garion, but was met with a light grenade impacting his face. Turning into pure lightning and shooting forwards, Laxus closed the gap between him and Garion instantly and landed a powerful kick to Garion's stomach. Before he could be sent flying, Laxus grabbed his leg. "I think it's time for payback!" He roared. Coating his other fist in lightning, he pulled Garion close and began to repeatedly punch him in the face and chest, leaving bruises where his fist collided with Garion's body.

"Fire dragon sword horn!" Natsu collided with Laxus, interrupting his attack pattern. Seizing his chance, Garion summoned the strongest light magic attack he could at a moments notice and blasted Laxus in the face with it. The lighting mage simply roared, letting go of Garion's leg to deliver a powerful kick to Natsu's side, sending him flying into a pillar near the entrance. As he turned his head to face Garion, he was met with a nasty surprise. "Darkness strike!" Garion yelled, putting all his strength behind the punch. When it impacted Laxus's face, his pupil less eyes didn't even blink and he retaliated with a powerful punch to Garion's chest, sending him into the air. Before Garion could do anything, Laxus had already followed up, landing 3 hard punches and one kick before sending Garion flying to the ground below, landing near the entrance. Laxus then launched a lightning blast at Garion, who barely managed to lift his arms in an attempt to protect himself. The attack hit him, causing more pain to wrack his body and his limbs to no longer respond to his commands.

Laxus landed several meters away and raised his arm into the air, lightning cackling up and down it. "Can you feel the electric energy of the lightning I've summoned?" Laxus asked. Natsu, who was trying to stand up, looked at Laxus before shifting his gaze upwards. When he saw the ball of lightning in the air, his eyes widened. Garion too had noticed the ball of electricity in the sky, and was desperately trying to move his body but he was still suffering from the affects of Laxus's lightning, leaving him essentially paralysed.

"It will plummet from the heavens... AND TURN YOU INTO ASH!" Laxus finished. "RAGING BOLT!" He roared, and sent the attack... straight at Garion. The boy froze in fear, eyes as wide as plates and his body trembling as the massive ball of lightning descended towards him. "GARION!" Natsu screamed as he watched Laxus's attack descend towards his guild mate. He tried with all his willpower to get his body to move, but by the time he was able to start moving, it was too late.

The ball impacted, causing Garion to vanish from sight. A moment later, it exploded and revealed the area where it had landed was now damaged, uneven floor with no sign of Garion. The air shimmered from the heat of the attack, and Natsu stared blankly at the spot where Garion had previously been. He broke his stare when Laxus started laughing maniacally. "Not so tough now are ya? I'm sure Evergreen will appreciate that you've been turned to dust, Bwahahahahaha!" Natsu gritted his teeth in anger, and a vein started pulsing on his forehead. "Grr... LAXUS!" He yelled, now on his feet. "HOW COULD YOU!?"

"Oh don't worry Natsu, you'll be joining him soon enough!" Laxus roared. "That's no way to treat one of your comrades." A rough voice interjected. Natsu and Laxus both looked upwards, and felt different emotions upon seeing Gajeel holding Garion by the back of his shirt. For Natsu, it was relief and slight annoyance because Gajeel had shown up. For Laxus, it was confusion and anger. "Only a nut job like you would be so cheery about taking down one of his friends. Thankfully, I got to him before you did." Gajeel looked at the boy he was holding. "As much as I hate to admit it, I kinda owe this kid since he's one of 3 people at this guild who don't hate my guts." Garion turned his head to look at him. "Gajeel..." He muttered.

The iron dragon slayer gave him a hard glare. "Don't even think for a second this makes us friends kid, or think this means I care about you." He bluntly stated. He jumped off the railings and landed where Garion had nearly been incinerated, and oddly enough actually set Garion down somewhat gently. Natsu walked over and glared at Gajeel, who just glanced in his direction once before looking back at Laxus. "Salamander." He said. "Gajeel." Natsu replied. "I have another challenger? You'll all end up dead soon anyway, anyone who dares to stand in my way will be destroyed!" Laxus declared, arrogance filling his tone.

"Let me and Garion take care of Laxus okay? You stay out of this!" Natsu said, clearly not wanting to argue the point. "No deal I've got a score to settle with that punk. This guys not messing around he's a real monster. You can tell he's got Makarov's blood running through him." Garion, who was now half way to standing up, looked at Gajeel. "It sucks, but I think we're going to have to fight him as a team. You, me and the squirt." Gajeel said. Garion blinked in surprise but before he could say anything Natsu made his objections clear.

"Ain't no way! I already don't like having to fight with Garion plus I'd never want to team up with a goon like you so stay out of this!" Natsu yelled, waving his arms like a mad man. "Just look at him." Gajeel said in a tired tone. "Is that the same guy you remember?" He asked. Natsu looked at Laxus. "No." Garion said, now fully standing up. "Far as I can tell that's an enemy. If we wanna save the guild, we gotta stop him right here and now. Every else has either been knocked out by another member or zapped by this 'thunder palace'. Don't you get it? We're the only ones left who can stop him." Gajeel explained. Garion looked at him with a surprised expression, which then morphed into a smile.

"Come on Natsu he's right!" Garion said, drawing the attention of both dragon slayers. "I know you might not get along so well, but right now that doesn't matter! What matters is we need to stop Laxus!" Garion said with fierce determination, causing them both to blink. Gajeel then smirked. "See? Even the squirts on my side."

Natsu looked extremely unhappy. "Fine! But just so were clear, this is the only time I'm ever teaming up with you!" He said. "Trust me I'm enjoying this as much as you are. We'll sort it out later." Garion couldn't help but grin and he turned to face Laxus. As one, the three wizards charged. "Lets do this!" They said in unison.

The dragon slayers took point, charging head first at Laxus. The moment they got close enough, they started kicking and punching with all their strength. Laxus was smirking as he was blocking the blows with no apparent effort, and started readying an attack to blast Natsu-

"Angel's lance!"

Laxus grunted as a beam of white light slammed into his side, knocking him to the right a bit and opening a hole in his defence. Not wasting the chance, the dragon slayers lept into action. "Fire dragon iron fist!" Natsu yelled, sending his flame coated fist towards Laxus's face. It collided with his cheek, and the force of the punch plus the force from Garion's attack forced his one foot off the ground.

"Iron dragon club!" Gajeel yelled, sending his extended Iron limb towards Laxus. It slammed into his stomach, causing the blond haired man to grunt. In reply, he grabbed Gajeel's club and with a heave, sent the iron dragon slayer flying across the cathedral with a lightning bolt for company.

"Squirt!" He yelled as he flew through the air. Garion reacted instantly, grabbing Gajeel and pulling him out the way of Laxus's attack. "You're really heavy you know that?" Garion pointed out. "Whatever, put me down!" Gajeel ordered. Garion complied and let him go, barely managing to dodge a lightning bolt from Laxus. The dual element wizard landed on his feet and started running towards Laxus, his magic changing from light to dark as he did so. Laxus smirked and launched several small balls of lighting towards him. "Darkness wave!" Garion yelled, sweeping his arm across in front of him and sending a wave of purple magic towards the balls of lightning. They weren't destroyed, but the attack allowed Garion to avoid them.

"FIRE DRAGON BRILLIANT FLAME!" Natsu roared, shooting into the air behind Laxus. The blond haired wizard could only look at Natsu in shock before the attack was launched at his back and sent him flying forwards. Garion wasted no time, he launched himself into the air, fist cocked back and ready to strike. "Darkness strike!" He yelled, his fist flying forwards and colliding with Laxus's face. He got in a few more quick punches to the man's stomach before kicking him towards the ground. "Now!" Natsu yelled. Both the dragon slayers sucked in a large mouthful of air.

"Fire dragon..."

"Iron dragon..."

"ROAR!" They yelled in unison, the streams of fire and iron shooting forth from their mouths. They collided with Laxus at the same time, causing a massive explosion. Garion landed in between the two dragon slayers, his darkness magic still coated his arms. No-one said anything as they waited to see how much damage their attacks did.

"Don't tell me that's the best the three of you can do? Especially you two... you don't even deserve the title of dragon slayer..."

"No way..." Garion muttered in disbelief. _Just how strong is he?_

"W-What the heck? He doesn't even look like we just hit him at all!" Natsu said. "But how? I don't get it, I know he's strong and all but we hit him with a ton of our magic! How's he still standing?" Laxus just smirked at them. "I'll let you guys in on a little secret. I've kept this a secret from everyone else, since I really hate the old man's lectures, but I'm sure I can trust the three of you." Laxus's smirk grew wider. His body swelled in size and scale like patterns formed on his arms. He lifted his head back.

"Lightning dragon..."

Garion, Gajeel and Natsu were all staring with wide eyes. "I-I had no idea Laxus was a dragon slayer too!" Natsu blurted out.

"ROAR!"

The wave of lightning flew towards them. Garion was the first to recover from the shock and quickly switched to his light magic. Gathering all his power, he created a barrier in front of the three wizards, hoping he could-

It wasn't enough.

Like a full speed train hitting a wooden box, Laxus's roar obliterated Garion's shield, and a moment later the attack detonated, knocking Garion to the back of the trio. When the smoke cleared, Garion, Natsu and Gajeel were all lying on the ground, twitching in pain and paralysed by the lightning dragon slayer's roar. Laxus felt a pang of annoyance. "You're still alive? Damn I was sure that would've finished you off. Why won't you just die already?" He asked, his voice showing he was clearly annoyed.

"I can't move..." Garion said. "Me neither..." Gajeel and Natsu said simultaneously.

"You three losers..." Laxus started, walking a few steps forwards. "Erza and Mystogen... the old geezer..." He raised his arms to his sides. "Those weaklings in Fairy Tail... and the pathetic people of Magnolia!" Lighting started to arc and build around Laxus, his magic energy soaring. "YOUR TIME IS OVER NOW!" Garion started at Laxus in disbelief. "Where's all that... magic energy coming from...?" Gajeel asked. Garion's face changed to an expression of shock. "This feels like... one of the master's spells!" he said. Gajeel realised what Laxus was doing, and his eyes widened as much as they could.

"This guys insane! He's going to use Master Makarov's ultimate judgement spell!? We're as good as dead!" Gajeel said, his tone one of complete disbelief. Laxus brought his hands together and summoned a bright ball of light between them. "Bwahaha, that's right metal head, I've mastered Fairy Law!"

"Laxus what are you doing!?" Garion yelled. He knew what Fairy Law could do, but he'd never seen it, and right now he didn't want to. "Do you know what that spell will do to the people of Magnolia!? To us?" He asked, but it fell on deaf ears. Laxus continued to build magic energy for the spell, and Garion's heart was sinking fast. _No no no no no there has to be a way to stop him!_ He thought desperately.

"LAXUS STOP!" A voice cried from the doorway. Garion's mouth hung open in shock when he saw it was Levy. "Levy!?" Garion and Natsu asked. "You idiot! What are you doing here?" Gajeel demanded.

"You've got to see the master he doesn't have much time!" Levy cried, but Laxus either didn't hear her or didn't care. "Master Makarov, your grandfather, he's close to death!" The bluenette yelled. The three paralysed Fairy Tail wizard's eyes widened, and Laxus stopped charging his spell, his pupils returning to his eyes. "Stop this right now! Go see him one last time, please! Hurry before it too late!" Levy cried, hoping Laxus would heed her.

"N-no..." Garion said, his body shaking now. "The master is going to... going to... die...?" He muttered in disbelief. "No way..." Natsu added, his expression one of pure shock. "PLEASE LAXUS!" Levy said, tears staining the edges of her eyes. Laxus's shocked expression turned into a massive smirk. "This is working out perfectly... now that the old man is at death's door I have an even better chance of becoming Fairy Tail's new master!"

Garion blinked, staring at Laxus in complete disbelief. His head slowly tilted downwards until he was looking at the floor. "No... no... no... LAXUS!" Garion yelled one last time, but it fell on deaf ears.

"This is the dawn of a new era for Fairy Tail! I'll rebuild everything from the ground up! I'll form the ultimate guild! One so powerful, ALL WILL TREMBLE AT OUR NAME!" Laxus roared, the intensity of his magic rising.

"FAIRY LAW: ACTIVATE!" Laxus roared, slamming his hands together. The seal of the guild appeared before him and the light spread outwards. As it reached Garion, he unconsciously and unintentionally summoned his wings and held them and his arms across his face in a vain attempt to shield himself and he jammed his eyes shut. He braced himself for it, the pain, the anguish, the burning as Fairy Law destroyed him completely and then for it to all be over, the feeling of...

... of... of... warmth?

Garion's eyes shot open, and they widened even more when he saw his arms were still in front of him. In fact, him being able to see his arms at all was something he hadn't expected. He blinked and looked at his arms, and his eyes somehow widened even more when he saw his injuries were being _healed._ The burn on his right arm, gone. The pain in his muscles, gone. The paralytic effect of Laxus's attack, gone. Garion stood up, unconsciously spreading his wings and looking at his hands in awe. _B-but how... how is Fairy Law healing me?_ He wondered. He looked down, and noticed 2 things. One, he could see his lower body, two, it seemed this strange healing affect was spreading to his lower body as well. He paused, and slowly turned his head to his right.

His wings.

He didn't remember summoning them, or even using them to shield himself. But now, as he looked at them, somehow standing out against the golden light that surrounded him. He blinked when he saw they seemed to be pulsing, and when he concentrated on them, he realised something.

His magical energy was being restored as well. Like water over a dry stream it was flowing into him... from his wings. He stared at his right one in disbelief. _No way... are my wings absorbing the light magic of Fairy Law!? B-But how? How can they absorb the energy of such an overwhelmingly powerful spell?_ This didn't make any sense to Garion. Considering the amount of magical energy he felt Laxus pour into Fairy Law, it should have killed him instantly, yet now he was _absorbing_ it's power? More confusing, how were his wings able to absorb magical energy and not only restore his reserves of power but also heal his injuries with it?

Garion blinked, and an old memory came to the surface. He'd been looking through the library at the guild a few years ago when he'd found a book about the guild and it had mentioned Fairy Law . He hadn't been able to really read the fancy writing so he'd gone and asked the master about it. There was something he said that Garion was trying to remember, and after a few moments he remembered.

 _"Fairy Law only harms those the caster sees as an enemy, but the magic looks into the users heart to determine this."_ The words of the master rang through his mind, and he felt a wave of relief wash over him. _So everyone else is fine then... which leaves only one thing._ Garion's face turned serious, His injuries finished healing and his magic was fully restored, yet his wings kept on absorbing as much power as they could.

Garion prepared himself, it was time to finish the battle of Fairy Tail.

The light died down, revealing Laxus standing in the cathedral surrounded by swirling dust clouds. He let his arms fall to his sides, and a smirk spread across his face, alongside a feeling of victory swelling up inside him. "I finally did it, I finally-"

The sound of coughing cut him off mid sentence. Eyes as wide as plates, he looked on in disbelief as the dust settled and revealed Natsu and Gajeel, still on the ground but very much alive. He turned his head to see Levy leaning against one of the pillars, her hand over her mouth. "What the- no way... impossible! How the hell are you all still alive!?" Laxus demanded. A large cloud was still swirling near the doorway, obscuring Garion from view.

"Levy... you alright?" Gajeel asked. 'Y-Yeah... what about Natsu and Garion?" She asked. Gajeel looked at Natsu who was breathing heavily and chuckled. "Looks just fine to me." He then looked to his left, and when Garion wasn't in sight, he began looking around frantically. "Squirt? Where are you?" he demanded, his voice alarmed.

"H-How... I hit them with so much magic power..." Laxus muttered, looking at his hands as if unable to comprehend reality.

Before anyone could say anything, a gust of wind drew everyone's attention. The dust around Garion was blown away, revealing the boy. Everyone's heads snapped to look at him, Natsu and Gajeel's mouths falling open slightly, Levy's eyes widening and Laxus just staring in disbelief. Garion's appearance had changed, his eyes were now white instead of blue, and his hair was a much lighter shade of blond as well. Strange, pure white branch like markings ran from his temples down the sides of his face and along his jawline, stopping before his chin. His wings glowed even more brilliantly than before, and he was surrounded in a pearly white aura.

"G-Garion?" Levy asked in disbelief. "W-what the hell?" Laxus asked, taking a step back. "Fairy Law only harms those the caster sees as enemies, but it looks into the users heart to determine this. That's why it failed." Garion explained. "Which means, you really do care about everyone in Magnolia." Levy, Gajeel and Natsu blinked. "So that explains why we were unharmed..." Levy muttered. Laxus blinked but then gritted his teeth. "You're lying!" He roared. "I'm not. It's the truth Laxus, and you have to face it." The lightning dragon slayer didn't seem to hear him, as his form began to grow, lightning arching off from his body.

"Give it up Laxus you can't win!" Garion said. Laxus ignored him.

"I AM THE STRONGEST! FAIRY TAIL IS MINE!" He roared. At blinding speeds, Garion shot forwards and landed a hard, light coated punch to Laxus's gut. The lightning mage let out an 'oof' before gritting his teeth and swinging his arm at lightning speed downwards, attempting to hit Garion. Faster than anyone could blink, Garion vanished and the lightning wizard was struck in the back by a spear of light. Levy's eyes widened at the speed at which Garion was moving. Laxus spun around, intent on getting his hands on Garion, only for the twin element wizard to sucker punch him in the face and send him flying into the air. Holding his hands out in front of him, Garion formed a ball of light. A moment later, a large beam shot out from it, sending Laxus crashing through the roof and into the sky's above. Garion then turned into a streak of light and shot outside.

In the air above the cathedral, Laxus regained his balance, but lost his sense of reason. Rage flooded his veins, his eyes turning pupil less and his power crackling about around him. As Garion approached him from below, the lightning dragon slayer changed into his lightning form and shot downwards. The two collided, the stream of lightning going downwards and the streak of white light going upwards. Garion stopped and spun around to face his approaching foe. He summoned a spear of light in each hand, but then after a moment they faded away. Levy, who was on the ground with Gajeel and Natsu, the latter of whom wanted more than anything to get involved, started to panic. "W-Whats he doing!?" She asked. "How should I know!?" Gajeel demanded.

Laxus noticed Garion letting his attacks fade and he let out a burst of maniacal laughter. "GIVING UP ARE YOU!? GOOD TO SEE YOU KNOW YO-"

He was cut off when a light coated fist slammed into the side of his face. "You're wrong Laxus!" Garion yelled. Before Laxus could grab Garion, the young wizard kicked him in the face and shot around to punch him in the back. "Fairy Tail isn't about being the strongest!" The boy yelled. Laxus twisted around, lightning coursing over his body, and swung blindly at Garion, hoping to land a hit. His target dodged and landed yet another punch, this time to his face. "It's about being part of a family!" He continued. Becoming more enraged by the second, Laxus roared and unleashed his lightning in random directions, hoping to hit Garion.

Garion flew backwards and when he saw an opening charged forwards and landed yet another punch, this one to Laxus's gut. "About being together everyday with your friends!" He shot backwards, but Laxus, in his blind rage, managed to land a punch which sent Garion hurtling downwards and causing him to crash into the roof of the cathedral with a large amount of force.

Laxus landed on the other side of the roof, body trembling from anger. "Didn't anyone ever teach you... to respect your elders?" He taunted. Garion got to his feet, a bit battered and bruised, but still okay. "And finally, the name of our guild is meant to inspire hope, not fear! Our guild is one big family, which is why you will never be able to take it!" Garion said defiantly. Levy was holding her hands to her face, more worried than she'd ever been in her life before. "Garion! Please... be careful!"

"SHUT UP!" Laxus roared. He stuck his hand into the air, a magical seal forming. "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! NOW IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO DIE!" Freed gaped when he realised what spell Laxus was about to use. "What are you doing Laxus!? That could kill him!" Freed yelled. Laxus simply laughed maniacally in response. Garion stuck his hand out to the side and began pouring magical energy into a single massive spear, but he was keeping some in reserve. _I hope this works._

"Garion what are you doing!?" A panic stricken Levy demanded. "He's takin' the attack head on, what's it look like?" Natsu said. Levy looked at him. "But it could kill him!" She cried. Natsu looked at her and grinned. "Nah he'll be fine! At the very least, if he can't finish Laxus off I will!" Levy blinked and stared at Natsu for a few seconds before turning back to the fight on the rooftop.

"LIGHTING DRAGON HEAVENWARD HALBERD!" Laxus roared, hurling the bolt of lightning straight at Garion. "GRAND ANGEL SPEAR!" Garion roared, hurling his attack in response. The two attacks collided, sending sparks of lightning and light everywhere. Laxus roared and launched more magic towards his halberd, hoping to overwhelm Garion. Garion did likewise, launching a beam of light from his palm into the struggle. The stalemate only lasted a few moments before Laxus's halberd began forcing Garion's angel spear back. _Come on, come on, come on where is it?_ Garion wondered. The halberd was approaching him fast, and he began to wonder if his plan would really work.

All the spectators watched with abated breath, worried for Garion's safety and if he would truly-

It happened.

The power of Laxus's spell faltered.

Garion's eyes widened when he felt it, and hope surged within him. "I've got him!" He yelled. From a combination of extended fighting, the use of the thunder palace and Fairy law, Laxus's magical power was near the point of depletion, giving Garion the chance he needed to end the fight. Bringing out his reserve magic, he forced the struggle away from him before he detonated his spear and quickly dodged to the side, just in case Laxus's attack didn't follow suit. It did, and a large dust cloud was kicked up in the middle of the roof. _NOW_ Garion said to himself. Charging forwards, using all his physical strength, he upper cutted Laxus launching him into the air. Before the man could recover, Garion shot into the air after him, and as fast and hard as he could began showering the man with punches and kicks, soaring higher and higher into the air. "You don't understand Laxus! I'd rather be weak and have friends than be strong and be alone!" Garion yelled.

When Laxus finally tried to react, Garion sucker punched him in the face as hard as he could. With that final blow, Garion shot around into the air above Laxus, his breathing now ragged and heavy. Raising both his arms, palms facing skyward, he formed a ball of light between his palms. He poured all his remaining magical energy into it, its size increasing with each passing second. Laxus spun around in the air, his face twisted in rage as he looked at Garion. The lightning dragon slayer began gathering his magic for one final desperate attack.

He never got to use it.

Garion's attack reached as charged as it'll ever be, and he unleashed it.

"ANGELS FINAL JUDGEMENT!" He roared. The sphere above his head glowed, and in one sweeping motion, he brought both his arms down and pointed them at Laxus. A moment later, a massive beam of light engulfed Garion and plummeted towards Laxus. The lightning mage could only widen his eyes as the beam of light slammed into his chest, and sent him plummeting downwards into the roof of the cathedral. Upon impact, the beam detonated, sending out a shock wave and causing many to have to shield their eyes.

Garion fell, hitting the roof of the cathedral hard. He forced himself to his knees as he watched the dust cloud on the other side of the roof.

"D-Did he do it?" Freed asked. Neither Levy, Gajeel nor Natsu dared to say anything. The dust finally settled... to reveal Laxus's unconscious form. For a moment, everyone was silent. Then Levy spoke.

"H-He did it!" She cried. Joy and relief rushed through her like rivers over dry streams. Freed had a (somewhat) relieved smile on his face. Gajeel had what appeared to be a possibly proud smirk, whilst Natsu was halfway between happy and disappointed.

Up on the rooftop, Garion stared at the unconscious form of Laxus for a few moments before the reality of the situation came crashing down on him. It was over, they'd won, and the town was safe. Collapsing on his back, his eyes returning to normal and the marks on his face fading, Garion couldn't help but let out a joyful laugh as he realised that, the festival, town and guild were saved.

And the battle, was over.

* * *

 ***looks at word count* Okay so this is now the longest chapter I have written in my entire life (thus far). Phew, glad that's over. Now onto the anti lynch defense.**

 **1\. Garion vs Evergreen: I honestly couldn't think of anyone else for him to fight, and I didn't feel like making him fight a non thunder legion (yes that is what I call them, I watched the English dub, so deal with it) member. Plus its going with his selfless and pure personality, he'd want to try and free the girls first thing.**

 **2\. Garion beating Laxus: He's the main character of this story. NO I will not be giving all of Natsu's victorys to Garion, I can't (Dora anim[or htf you spell that name] for example). So yes, he's the main character, he's going to be the one landing the final blow on some villains, and sorry if you have a problem with it, but he's the main character in this story, not Natsu (or Lucy, which she's SUPPOSED to be but never beats any major- I'll just shut up now) And if you call BS on how he beat him, please remember by that point Laxus had A) used the thunder palace B) Fairy Law and C) Expended quite a fair bit of magic in fighting Garion, Natsu and Gajeel. So I used the logic he just got tired out and Garion was then able to over power him, basically the same way Natsu beat him in the show and manga.**

 **3\. His wings: Now I may get a lot of hate for this one, or not, but basically the way I see it, when Laxus used Fairy Law, he basically released a crap ton of magical energy into the air (since the spell didn't harm anyone). Garion's wings can absorb any ambient magical power in the air, as long as he has them out. And since Laxus released a metric F*** ton of it when he used Fairy Law, Garion's wings absorbed it and healed his wounds plus refilled his magic power with the absorbed power. This is only really useful in situations where there is a TON of magical energy in the air around him, like Fairy Law level ton. Places like Tenrou Island he might get a small boost, but only when his wings are out, which is not 24/7.**

 **4\. Chapter length: I originally wanted to split this in half, but then I realised it'd probably be a bit of a waste of time so I made it into one big chapter. Plus as I said, I want to get our lovely little paring introduced to one another, which will be happening soon. And this'll probably be one of the longer chapters in the story... or not... it depends**

 **5\. That 'angel' form Garion used will only come up again MUCH later in the story, so he won't be able to use it willy nilly.**

 **6\. And yes I skipped over some bits, mainly just the parts with lots of talking where Garion wasn't involved.**

 **Basically my objective is to try and made this story as uncliche and as unique as possible. I suppose that's every writers goal, but I'm just saying it here to let you guys know. I try my best with this. Thanks for reading, please leave a review telling me what you thought and what I could improve and keep any criticism civil and I'll see you in the next chapter!**

 **Tatty-bye!**


	4. Fantasia and Fortune

**Yes this chapter was released early. But just this once and another one will probably be coming next month, consider it a gift for the new year if you will. Also I haven't mentioned this, but there's something else I've changed in the overall Fairy Tail story. It's nothing massive, well not yet anyway, but I'm sure you'll all figure out what it is in no time.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

* * *

Were one to overlook the two bandaged up dragon slayers, they'd never be able to tell that the entire guild had recently been involved in a massive internal conflict. The hall was filled with cheerful conversation and the odd laugh, something which brought a smile to Garion's face. He was sitting at a table near the centre of the hall next to Levy, and was engaging in idle conversation with her and the few other members that were cluttered around the table. Part of the reason the guild was so upbeat and cheerful was because Erza had assured everyone that the master was going to be fine, thanks to Porlyusica.

Speaking of the tree hermit, in addition to helping the master recover she'd also examined Garion to see if he was suffering from any after affects of his absorbing of power from Fairy Law. He'd more or less checked out completely fine, but Porlyusica had still issued a strict command ordering him to not do anything physically straining for the next few days. Naturally Garion hadn't been a fan of the idea, being a young boy bursting with energy most of the time, but he had quickly agreed after Porlyusica had threatened to hit him on the head with her broom if he didn't follow her orders. Whilst he was one of the few people in the world she could actually tolerate, that didn't excuse him from her usual behaviour towards other humans.

"I'm really looking forwards to the parade tonight!" Garion said enthusiastically. Levy turned her head to look at the boy and nodded in affirmation. "Same here." She paused. "Are you nervous?" She asked. Garion paused for a moment before nodding slowly. "Yeah... I just hope the people like what I'm gonna be doing..." His voice had lost some of its previous enthusiasm and his smile had fallen slightly. "Don't worry Garion. You'll do fine, I know you will!" Levy said reassuringly. She wasn't that surprised he was feeling nervous, after all he was only 14 and he'd never been part of the parade before so him being nervous was to be expected.

Garion looked at Levy for a moment before smiling and giving a quick nod. "Thanks Lev!" The blue haired girl smiled at him. "It's a pleasure Garion." She replied. The conversation was about to continue when the noise level in the building inexplicably dropped to almost non-existent in about 5 seconds. Whispers burst out amongst the members of the guild, and when Garion and Levy heard the name of who it was, they both shot to their feet.

"Laxus?" Macao asked. The man in question was walking towards the centre of the hall, bandages covering a fair portion of his body and face.

"What do you want?" Wakaba demanded, his tone harsh.

Garion and Levy moved to the edge of the small group that had formed around the lightning dragon slayer.

"Where's the old man?" Laxus asked in a neutral tone, no hint of anger in his tone. His request sparked off an aggressive reaction from Jet and Droy, and quite soon after many other members joined in both refusing Laxus's request and demanding to know his intentions for wanting to see the master. Levy tried to calm everyone down but her efforts were in vain. However a certain red head was watching and was not at all impressed by the situation.

"Everyone quiet!" She commanded. The building fell silent in an instant, none daring to risk the wrath of Titania. The S-class wizard looked at Laxus. "The master's in the infirmary." The lightning wizard said nothing in reply and started to walk forwards, but as he passed Garion he turned his head slightly and gave the boy a look. Not one of anger, or hatred or even annoyance, just a look. Garion blinked and by the time he realised Laxus had actually looked at him the man had walked past. Curious, Garion started to follow the man as he journeyed across the hall.

Natsu leapt in front of Laxus, giving the man reason to pause. The fire dragon slayer raised his unslung arm and pointed it at Laxus, muttering something incomprehensible to most the whole time. Once he was done Laxus simply walked past him, not a word escaping his lips. As he reached the steps, he simply raised his right hand to where it was visible by all. As he finished ascending to the second floor, Erza clapped her hands together. "Shows over guys. Lets get ready for the fantasia parade!" At once, a chorus of yells went up in response to Erza's statement, majority of them being shouts of joy, a few other being of panic as almost no-one had gotten anything together or ready for the parade.

Garion spun around to look at Levy who didn't even need him to talk for her to know what he was going to ask. "I'll help you get ready for the parade don't worry!" Levy said with a smile. "Yeah! And we'll help too!" Jet and Droy interjected before Garion could reply. "Well I'll help more!" Jet snapped. "No I will!" Droy retorted. "No I will!" Jet opposed. "No I will!" Droy countered.

"Why don't we all agree you're both going to help equally?" Erza chipped in calmly, but her menacing aura was clearly present. Jet and Droy fell into line instantly. "Y-Yes Ma'am!" Titania smiled. "Good. Now get to work!"

"Yes Ma'am!"

The two men sprinted off. Erza turned her head to look at Garion, a small smile on her face. "Since it's your first year I assume you'll be needing assistance with the preparations?" she asked.

Garion nodded. "Yes please!"

"Right then, lets get to work!"

"Aye sir!"

* * *

 _*That evening, the streets of Magnolia*_

The Fantasia parade was in full swing. Essentially the entire population of Magnolia plus a large number of travellers cluttered the edge's of the streets where the parade was passing through. The floats ranged from massive sea like creatures to massive rabbits to large platforms and even one or two small moving castles. Fireworks and magic filled the sky's, the air around the floats decorated with hearts, stars and other varying shapes. Cheers were constant coming from the spectators, large numbers of which were wearing costumes based on the guild, from Happy hats to Plum outfits. Every member of the guild was doing something that was earning "oohs" and "aahs' from the crowd.

Aside from Elfman, who's imposing form in his beast soul and his terrifying roar made many spectators who were at the front of the crowd suddenly find themselves with brown trousers.

The parade continued, Gray and Juvia directly behind Elfman and Mira. Erza was after them. Following behind her was Garion who was doing an impressive display by forming his light into little angelic figures who flew into the air and exploded like fireworks, raining particles of white light down onto the spectators. Several of his little angel figures formed a line in front of him and when he nodded they flew into the air one by one and exploded, forming the words "Fairy Tail" in the sky. He repeated this with his darkness magic, earning a few gasps of amazement as he did so. The boy had the largest smile on his face he could possibly manage.

Natsu followed Garion, and following him was a display with Reedus and several other members. Follow them was the float the master was on, who was putting on a rather goody yet enjoyable display. Laxus was standing towards the back of the crowd, having come forwards from the shadows where he'd been previously. He watched Makarov begin his display before he looked down at his hand, old memories coming to the surface. He extended his thumb and forefinger, just the way he'd shown his grandfather he'd do it all those years ago. A content smile was on his face as he looked up at his grandfather once more.

Turning his body around, Laxus began walking towards an alleyway with his eyes closed in content. He only managed a few steps before he stopped, opened his eyes and slowly turned to look at the parade. His eyes widened in shock when he saw Makarov doing the very signal Laxus had taught him all those years ago, arm raised in the air, forefinger and thumb extended with the back of the hand facing forwards. As one, the rest of the Fairy Tail wizards followed suite, everyone raising their arms in respect to Laxus. Tears stung at the corners of the lightning wizards eyes, and mere moments later they rolled down his cheeks. "Grandpa..." He muttered.

" _I may not be able to see you... there may be hundreds of miles between us... but I'll always be looking your way. I'll be watching over you forever, I promise."_

Laxus turned and started walking away, tears still rolling down his face. " _I know. Thank you Grandpa..."_

* * *

A week has passed since the harvest festival. Life in the guild has more or less returned to normal, most members having gotten over what had happened during the battle of Fairy Tail. Word of Laxus's expulsion had spread through the guild during that time and there had been varying reactions to it. Garion had sort of understood why Laxus had been kicked out but he also felt that if he had been truly sorry about what he did then there was no reason to kick him out.

He walked into the hall, making his way over to the bar. He had just gotten back from a job involving some bandits raiding a small town to the north east. It hadn't been difficult, none of them had been mages so he'd been able to finish the job and get back to Magnolia within the space of 4 hours. He was back to his usual bubbly, cheerful and energetic self, having done about a dozen jobs since he'd been cleared for them again by Porlyusica. He'd taken a bit of a break from his relentless job doing after buying his house, but he'd been growing extremely restless over the last few days so as soon as he was able, he'd rushed off to do a whole bunch of jobs.

He reached the bar where Mira was in the middle of cleaning a glass. "Jobs done." He said to the barmaid. The demoness gave him a sweet smile and placed the glass she had just finished cleaning into the cupboard before closing it. "Well done. Any more jobs that you're planning to take on today?" She asked, picking up another glass to clean. Garion shook his head. "I'm going to do some shopping quickly just to get some food and other things I need, but I'm going to stay in the guild for a bit to relax. I'll take a whole bunch again tomorrow."

Mira nodded in approval. "Make sure you get soap, shampoo and some toothpaste." She said, her voice taking on the same tone she used when reminding Elfman of similar things. "I will Mira. I need to get some anyway, I'm starting to run low." He said. The barmaid smiled at him and finished drying off the glass in her hand. She placed it back in its relevant cupboard and ran a critical eye over the bar, assessing its cleanliness. She gave a satisfied nod when she determined it was up to standard. "See you later Mira." Garion said. Mira smiled back. "See you later."

He turned around and began walking towards the centre of the guild. He was looking around the guild idly, not really having an idea for where he wanted to go, he just wanted to take a walk through the guild. He looked towards the stage and then tilted his head upwards to look at the second floor. With a frown, he realised he had yet to actually go up there since the rules about the second floor were changed. Same as everyone else in the guild, Garion wanted to become an S-class wizard. In fact, he held onto the quiet hope of being chosen for the trials at the end of the year. His main reason for wanting to obtain the title was that he'd get to go on more exciting and wondrous adventures once he became S-class. It wasn't for the massive hike in reward money. In fact when Garion had first started doing wizarding jobs, more often than not he'd finish the quest, tell the contractor it was done and leave before he received his reward. The reason for this was because he'd used to sprint off to get back to the guild as quickly as he could so he could take another job. He'd simply done jobs for the sake of doing jobs and being able to adventure. Helping those in need had also been a large part of it. He'd eventually stopped running off the moment the job was done so he could get the reward, but after a while he'd found himself with more money than he really needed.

And that was what lead to the idea of him buying his own house. That and he'd been living with Levy for the past 3 years. Whilst only female members of the guild were allowed to live in Fairy hills, an exception had been made for Garion. In exchange however he had to pay the full rent each month. It was about 4 months ago he'd made his decision to buy his own house. After that, he'd worked non-stop to get the money he needed.

"The cards have told me you're to have a fateful encounter today." A semi-drunk voice slurred from behind Garion. He turned his head and upon seeing Cana and Lucy turned his body as well. He tilted his head as he looked at the card in the brunette's hand. "A fateful encounter..." Lucy mumbled from where she was sitting next to Cana. "Wait are you telling fortunes Cana?" Garion asked excitedly. The renowned drinker turned to look at the boy. "Yeah I am... if you want I can tell yours."

"Please please please please could you Cana? Please?" Garion practically begged. Cana and Lucy couldn't help but chuckle and giggle respectively at Garion's excitement. "Sure thing kid, just keep your shirt on." Cana said. Garion's head bobbed up and down as he nodded. Cana reached into her back pocket for her cards and when she felt her fingers come into contact with the magical cards she gripped the whole deck and pulled it out before holding it out to Garion. "Shuffle them a bit before taking a few out." She instructed. Garion did as he was told and started to rather haphazardly shuffle the magical cards, nearly dropping the whole deck twice.

"All-right Garion that's enough." Cana said, partly because she was sure he'd shuffled it enough and partly because she was worried he'd drop the deck if he kept going for much longer. "Now draw 3 cards." He nodded and did as instructed, drawing three cards and placing them face down on the table. "All right, lets see what the cards say." Cana said. She was interested to see what the cards would say, since she'd never had the chance to tell Garion's fortune before. Garion was looking at the cards expectantly, waiting to see what they said.

Cana reached forwards and flipped the first card over. On it was a large golden heart with pure white feathers around it. "Not very surprising." Cana observed. "What's it mean?" Lucy asked. "The heart of gold. Only those with pure hearts draw this card from the deck. I kinda expected it of little Garion over here." She looked at the boy who was frowning at the card. He looked up at Cana. "What's that mean?" He asked, referring to what Cana had said. "It just means you're a really good person Garion, don't worry about it." She gave the boy a reassuring smile and with a nod he simply accepted what she'd said.

"Moving on..." Cana turned the next card over. This one showed a man kneeling down to help what appeared to be a beggar to his feet. "Always willing to help others. Suites Garion perfectly." The card wizard stated, glancing over at the boy. He was just looking at the card with his head tilted slightly. "I don't see how that's special. Shouldn't everyone always try to help everyone else?" He asked. "Yeah they should Garion... yes they should..." Cana trailed off. "Last card!" She declared, reaching forwards to grab the edge of the final card with her fingers. With a flick of her wrist, she turned the card over...

... And blinked in surprise when she saw what it was.

The card showed a man and a women holding hands with their foreheads pressed together. Even Lucy was a little confused by the last card. "Um... what's that mean?" Garion asked, breaking the silence. Cana turned her head to look at the boy, mouth slightly agape. _No way... did I... did I call it?_ She thought. She turned her gaze back to the card and blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Lucy frowned at the card but then her face lit up in realisation. "No way..." She mumbled

Garion had a confused expression on his face, his brain trying to figure out what the card on the table meant. Cana let out a large sigh several moments later. "It's romance Garion. It means you're going to meet a girl at some point and most likely end up falling in love with her." She said, her tone suggesting she didn't quite believe her own words. Garion blinked. Then he blinked again. And again.

Then it hit him.

"D-did you s-say l-l-love!?" Garion asked incredulously. "B-But I thought... l-l-love was s-something that only h-happened w-when you were grown up!". Lucy and Cana exchanged amused looks before giggling. "No silly, its not like that. The card doesn't that you're going to walk out into the street and suddenly bump into whoever you're destined to fall in love with. You might meet her in a year, or ten, or even more. The card doesn't say when so relax, you'll probably be a grown up when you meet her." The brunette reached out and ruffled Garion's hair a little. She then raised an eyebrow. "What? Don't you like the idea?" She asked.

Garion's expression clearly showed he didn't have the faintest idea of what to say in response to that. Cana chuckled and patted him on the head. "Relax Garion I'm just having a go at you." She said. The card wizard withdrew her hand from the top of Garion's head and gathered up the cards that were on the table before returning them to her deck. "So happy with your fortune?" She asked. Garion nodded. "Thanks Cana." He said with a smile. "Pleasure Garion. Don't worry too much about the last card, like I said it'll probably only happen when you're older." The blond haired boy nodded. "Got it Cana. I've got to go, see you guys later." The young wizard said before he turned and ran out the guild hall.

Cana turned to Lucy. "So do you want the rest of your fortune told as well?" She asked. Lucy shook her head. "No thanks. Maybe later." She politely said. Cana raised an eyebrow. "You sure? Afraid you'll get the romance card?" she teased. Lucy's cheeks gained a tinge of pink and she rounded on Cana. "No I'm not. Besides I'm not even interested in anyone right now." She said. Cana's eyebrow went higher. "You sure?" She asked. Lucy was about to retort when 2 images appeared in her mind.

A flash of pink. A toothy grin.

Her blush intensified and she shook her head. "Yes I'm sure, absolutely sure! No one I'm interested in whatsoever. I am definitely sure" she stated firmly. _We're just friends, come on Lucy you're brain's just being stupid. No way that'll ever happen._

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _...right?_

* * *

The girl looked up at the shelf stacked with bottles and various other articles related to personal hygiene, more specifically the bottle of shampoo on the top shelf. She turned and lowered her head to look to her right, brown eyes scanning to see if anyone was there. When she couldn't see anyone in the isle she turned her head to look to her left down the isle. Unfortunately there was no-one there either and she turned and tilted her head to return her gaze to the bottle on the shelf. _I wish Carla had come... she'd be able to get that bottle without any trouble..._ The girl thought. _And with no-one nearby to help, I guess I'll have to try and get it._

She placed the bags she was holding on the ground and took a step forwards, her long dark blue hair swaying slightly. Standing on the tips of her toes, she tried to reach for the bottle, her arm stretched out as much as it could be. The tips of her fingers brushed against the side of the bottle and she tried stretching further so she could get a grip on the it and be able to remove it from the shelf. Unfortunately her efforts only ended up pushing the bottle further out of her reach, prompting her to pull her arm back and return it to her side as well as fall back on the balls of her feet. She slumped her shoulders. _I need to get that shampoo, its the only one Carla_ _likes_. _I wish someone was here who could help..._

"Do you need help getting that bottle?" A voice asked from directly behind her. Wendy Marvell screamed in fright, nearly jumping out of her skin. She spun around to face whoever it was that had just spoken, her breathing faster than normal and her right hand clutching her chest. She came face to face with a boy who was just a little under half a head taller than her with messy sandy blond hair and light blue eyes filled with energy. His expression was confused, his head was tilted to the side slightly and he was leaning away from her. Realising she'd just screamed inside a shop and right in front of someone else, a wave of embarrassment washed over Wendy and her cheeks changed to a brilliant shade of red.

"I-I'm so sorry! I-I just... I wasn't expecting someone to be standing behind me..." She stammered. The boy blinked before he realised Wendy had spoke. He stopped leaning away from her and smiled. "It's alright. I'm sorry for scaring you like that..." He said sheepishly, raising his right hand to scratch the back of his head. The boy removed his hand from the back of his head and Wendy lowered her hand from her chest to her side.

"So you need help getting that bottle?" the boy asked. Wendy nodded. "Y-Yes. C-Could you please get it down for me?" She asked. The boy smiled and nodded. Wendy's eyes widened when 2 white wings formed on his back. _He... He's got wings like Carla!_ But then she noticed the difference. There was a symbol in light blue in the middle of them. In a single smooth motion the boy leapt into the air and snatched the bottle off the shelf and landed back on the ground, holding the bottle out to Wendy. "Here you go." He said with a smile. "T-Thank you! Thank you very much!" Wendy said gratefully, taking the bottle from his hand and placing it in one of her bags."It's my pleasure." The boy replied. He then looked at Wendy and tilted his head slightly.

"You have nice hair." He blurted out. Wendy blinked and felt a bit of heat in her cheeks as they turned red again. "T-Tha-ank y-you..." She stuttered, eyes darting around. The blond haired boy blinked again and his cheeks also gained a tinge of red. "W-well... it's just... blue's my favourite colour... and your hair is blue... and it looks nice! So I... uh... I like... it..." he stammered. He scratched the back of his head again and Wendy stopped looking at everywhere but him.

"S-so w-what's your name?" Wendy asked somewhat hesitantly. The boy looked at her and suddenly seemed to perk up. "Garion Angelous! What's yours?" he asked with a smile. "W-Wendy. Wendy Marvell." She answered, managing a small smile. "Nice to meet you Wendy!" Garion exclaimed cheerfully, his smile widening. Wendy felt her smile get a bit wider. "Nice to meet you too Garion!" She said as cheerfully as she could. Garion's smile seemed to get wider and he picked up a bag that was on the floor next to him. "Do you need help carrying your stuff?" He asked. Wendy shook her head. "No, but thanks for asking." She answered politely. The sky maiden leaned down and scooped her shopping up in her arms. She stood up and turned her head to look at Garion. "Thanks again for helping me." She said. Garion smiled. "It was a pleasure." He said. "Are you done shopping? I am and was about to go pay until I saw you needed help."

Wendy nodded. The two set off down the isle with Garion walking on Wendy's right. That was when he noticed her guild mark. "You're in a guild?" He asked. Wendy nodded. "Yeah. I'm part of Cait Shelter. It's a nice guild, I really like it there." She turned her head to look at Garion. "Are you in a guild?" she asked. Garion nodded, a grin forming on his face. "I'm part of Fairy Tail. It's a really cool guild, there's lots of cool wizards in it and everyone's nice." he said. Wendy smiled. "It sounds like a nice place." She said. Garion nodded. "Yeah. Maybe you could come visit sometime?" He asked.

Wendy blinked. "W-What do you mean?" She asked slightly confused. "I mean visit Fairy Tail. We're friends aren't we? I'd love to show you what it's like. You can show me your guild too!" He said. Wendy looked at him for a moment before smiling. "Y-Yeah sure! That sounds like a great idea!" She exclaimed cheerfully, her mood further improving upon having made a new friend. The two smiled at each other. They reached the counter to pay and Garion let Wendy go first. Once they were both done they left the shop and stopped outside the entrance.

"It's been nice meeting you Wendy!" Garion said with a grin. Wendy managed to grin back. "It's been nice meeting you too Garion." She said. "I hope I get to see you again soon." the dual element wizard said cheerfully. The sky maiden nodded. "Me too!" She said. Something was different about Garion. Wendy had probably never made a friend that fast in her life up until that point, nor had she met anyone who she just felt so relaxed when talking to, except Carla. But she was happy. "See you later Wendy!" Garion said, but he didn't turn to walk off. "See you later Garion. Goodbye!" Wendy said. Garion smiled and nodded before turning and walking off down the street. Wendy smiled, turned around and started walking towards the train station. _I hope I don't miss the train..._

* * *

 _She was nice._ Garion thought as he closed the front door of his house. He walked to the bathroom and removed the soap, shampoo and toothpaste from his bag. The bathroom was a modest sized one with the standard white tiles, a toilet to the right of the door, a massive bath tub directly across from the doorway and a shower on the left next to the basin. Once he was done he moved to the kitchen and emptied the bags out into the cupboards and fridge. The kitchen was about the same size as the bathroom, with a white counter, oven and fridge on the right with a washing up sink directly across from the door. On the left was another glass door which lead out into the garden. After that he walked back out into the main entrance hall and just stopped in the middle of the room. He turned his head to look at the hallway to the left of the staircase and took off towards it.

He reached the end of the hallway and opened the wooden door. The next room was a spacious room with large glass windows looking out into the garden. The floor was normal wood but fairly well polished. The only object present was a Piano in the middle of the room. It was a fairly old Piano, its oaken colour faded and the keys showed clear signs of extensive usage. Yet despite its age it's surface still had a faint gleam to it and still felt smooth to the touch. Garion sat down on the small stool in front of the instrument, raising his hands and letting them rest on the white ivory keys. He looked across the keys from left to right before returning his gaze to his hands.

He played a single note, the sound reverberating through the room. He played another, a lower note this time. And another, a much higher note. He played another note, this one in between the two previous notes in pitch. And another. He kept on playing notes, seemingly at random. After a while he stopped, his eyes never leaving his hands. He then started to play a slow piece of music, one of joy and sadness. It was no where near perfect, he played a lot of wrong notes but kept going, the sound echoing through the empty room.

The song ended and Garion rested his hands on his legs. "I need to get better." He sighed. The boy stood up and ran his hand across the top of the piano, a smile coming to his face. "I really enjoy this..." He said. "I'm glad Levy suggested it to me." He removed his hand from the top of the piano and closed the lid of the Piano. Garion had always greatly enjoyed music for some reason and a few years ago he'd started trying to play Piano. He was terrible at first but recently whenever he wasn't out adventuring he'd be working on his musical skills. He still spent a majority of his time on quests though.

He walked across the room to the door and out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

* * *

 **And that's chapter 4! Thank you very much for reading and please leave me a review telling me what you thought and if I made any mistakes please point them out! I hope you enjoyed the introduction of Garion and Wendy to one another as well as the chapter in general. I wanted to say more here, but I can't really think of anything. By describing my problem, I have just managed to solve it.**

 **Once more, I am a genius.**

 **Once more thanks for reading, please drop a review and I will see all you awesome people again next year!**

 **Happy new year all!**


	5. The Allied Forces Assemble

**Hello and welcome to chapter 5. Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites! I hope you all had a great new year, and that you're year is going great for you and will continue to be great! I've held you're attention long enough, story time!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

* * *

"It is weakening." A soft, calm voice boomed. There was no apparent source of the voice, it seemed to come forth from every conceivable direction.

"It has always been weakening." Another voice coursed, this one darker and harsher than the first voice. "It has been so for the last 10 years."

"But never this rapidly." The first voice countered. A white void was where this exchange was taking place. 2 figures of near indistinguishable shape floated opposite one another, their forms shifting and changing each second, colours pulsing and flowing in all directions beneath their 'skin'. The first figure seemed to favour the lighter colours, and had 2 undefined shapes protruding from its back, whilst the second one seemed to favour the more darker end of the spectrum. "This is concerning. If the seal continues to weaken at its current rate, all is lost." The first voice said apprehensively.

"And it is all to blame on that arrogant fool. How dare he use that spell for such a selfish purpose?" The second voice growled. The transformation rate of its mysterious form increased significantly, and it rapidly swelled in size. The colours that criss-crossed, danced and formed strange patterns under its skin gained a red tint and began swirling more violently around its form.

"Indeed, it was selfish, but there is little we can do." The first voice reasoned calmly in the face of the second voice's mounting fury. "We must try to maintain the seal for as long as possible and make sure the flow of power from it is controlled and kept to a minimum. We must focus on that."

The first voice's reasoning appeared to have worked as the second voice's form wilted back to its original size. "True." The second voice said, anger still clinging to the edges of its tone. "We are limited in the use of our powers, but we must maintain the seal, as you said. We must do it, for our sakes, and the sake of our vessel. At least until it is no longer necessary."

The first voice was pleased it had managed to calm down the second voice, and also felt a tinge of amusement. "It appear you have been affected by our vessel, haven't you?" The first voice asked with an amused tone.

"I cannot fathom what you are proposing." The second voice replied in a level tone, but the first voice detected a hint of bashfulness concealed within.

"Can you not? Truly? You never used to be so easy to calm." The first voice challenged.

"It is of no consequence. We must focus on our task." The second voice commanded. The first voice felt offended at having the subject changed so quickly, but it let it go.

"Indeed. Let us return to the task at hand then." The first voice said in agreement. The second voice was pleased, but one question was still nagging at it. After several moments worth of pause, it asked the question.

"Do you believe he will get strong enough in time?" it asked the first voice.

The other figure said nothing, supposedly deep in though. It ran the question through its mind many times, thinking of all the possible answers. It eventually reached an answer.

"We can only hope, dear friend. We can only hope."

* * *

Garion sneezed and on reflex raised his right hand to his face to cover his nose. He moved his hand away and looked at his palm for a moment before letting his arm fall back into its natural position at his side. He was currently walking down one of the many streets in Magnolia, taking his time as he made his way towards the guild hall. This was odd for him, he almost always ran to the guild hall after having completed a job to get a new one as quickly as possible, but right now something was different. He was thinking about what had happened 2 days ago.

He was thinking about Wendy.

The blue haired girl had been on his mind ever since their encounter. Not always in the forefront of his mind, in fact most of the time she had been sitting in the background of his thoughts, ready to be called to the front at any time. What stuck most with him was her smile, a picture of it seemed to be imprinted into his mind. Not that he minded, in his opinion Wendy had a very nice smile, probably one of the nicest he'd ever seen. Yet he still couldn't think of a reason why he was thinking of the Cait shelter guild member so much.

 _Maybe the reason I'm thinking about her so much is because I've never had a friend who's close to the same age as me._ Garion pondered. It was true, all his friends were roughly 3-4 years older than him, some even older. At times it made him wish there were more younger members of the guild for him to interact with, but he tended to keep those thoughts at the back of his mind. But there was something else, some other reason why he was thinking of the girl so much, something he couldn't put his finger on.

Garion was so engrossed in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that whilst his legs were moving, his body wasn't. He blinked and looked up when he realised a hand was currently resting on his head, keeping him in place. He blinked again when he saw who it was.

"Gajeel?" He asked, frowning as he made eye contact with the Iron dragon slayer who was wearing a neutral expression.

"Watch where you're going squirt. if I hadn't stopped you you would have walked straight into that wall." Gajeel said in a flat yet slightly edgy tone, tilting his head back slightly. Garion blinked at him before looking straight ahead. True to the dragon slayer's words, a wall was about 6 feet in front of him. Garion blinked again before his eyes widened in realisation and he reached up to scratch the back of his head.

"Sorry... wasn't looking where I was going..." Gajeel raised an eyebrow slightly at the young boy. "But thanks for stopping me Gajeel! You're a good friend!" Garion exclaimed, directing a cheerful grin towards the iron dragon slayer.

"I'm not your damned friend kid! I just stopped you from walking into a wall, that's all!" Gajeel yelled, a tick mark appearing on his forehead.

Garion tilted his head to the side, despite Gajeel's hand still being on his head, and frowned. "But you helped me, and friends help each other don't they?" He asked.

"Listen kid I can help whoever I want whenever I want, but it doesn't immediately make them my friend!" Gajeel yelled, another tick mark appearing on his forehead. "And I just stopped you from walking into a wall cause I felt like it, not cause you're my friend or anything!" And with that, the iron dragon slayer turned around and stormed off, growling to himself.

Garion watched him go, a blank look on his face. He smiled as the dragon slayer rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. The dual element wizard started walking again, this time keeping his wits about him. He looked up at the clear blue sky, his smile widening upon seeing how nice it was. For some reason the image of Wendy that was in his head jumped to the front of his mind. He continued making his way through the streets of Magnolia, the young blue haired girl still in his mind.

* * *

When Garion arrived at the guild hall, he stopped in the doorway and tilted his head and frowned at the group of wizards standing in front of a large diagram floating in the air. He could tell that whatever was going on was something serious, so without saying a word he started walking towards the group. He noticed Natsu and Happy cheerfully chomping away at food at a nearby table.

"So Eisenwald was actually just a kind of sub guild that worked under this Oracion Seis?" Gray asked, frowning slightly as he did so. Garion stopped next to Juvia, the water wizard turning her head to see who'd just walked up next to her. She smiled when she saw Garion and he returned the gesture.

"I've seen a lot of these names before..." Wakaba said.

"I think some of 'em even used to be legit." Macao added.

Garion tilted his head as he studied the diagram. Out of all the wizards in Fairy Tail, he most likely had the least experience and knowledge when it came to dark guilds, as he'd never interacted or fought with anyone from one before. He looked at Juvia. "What's that?" He asked, pointing at the diagram of the dark guilds.

"It's a diagram showing the names of various dark guilds and who in the Barem Alliance they work under." Juvia explained. Garion just gave her a baffled look in return. "The Barem Alliance are the three strongest dark guilds Garion. Oracion Seis, Tartaros and Grimoire Heart." Mira explained quickly, saving Juvia from having to explain it.

"Oh." Garion said, now looking at the diagram again, now with a bit more of a new perspective. A cold feeling formed in the pit of his stomach when he saw how many dark guilds there were. _Why are there so many?_ He wondered. _Why can't people just join normal guilds?_

"Most of the guild's that Gajeel and I destroyed when the two of us were members of Phantom Lord were under Oracion Seis, except for Fairy Tail of course but were all great friends now right?" Juvia exclaimed cheerfully. "Yeah!" Garion said with a grin. "I wouldn't remind them of that, if I were you." Gray said.

"Creepy... hey you guys... do you think they'll take it out on us...?" Lucy asked, clutching her elbows and shaking slightly.

"Ah relax! Don't worry your pretty little head about them. From what I hear they've only got six members in the guild anyway." Wakaba declared, trying to calm Lucy down. "Yeah they sound like small potatoes if you ask me." Macao added.

Garion blinked before tilting his head and frowning at Macao. _Small potatoes? What does that mean?_ Garion thought.

"Don't underestimate them. Those six wizards make up one of the most powerful guilds out there." Mira said seriously, getting everyone's attention.

"Speaking of the Oracion Seis..." A voice said from behind the group. Everyone turned around and were surprised to see Makarov standing in front of the door. "... word has come down. We must destroy them." Makarov said gravely.

"What!?" Nearly everyone said at once, staring at Makarov with expressions ranging from shock to disbelief to confusion.

"Welcome back master!" Mira said in an extremely cheerful voice, extremely contrasting the serious atmosphere inside the building. Everyone, save Garion, Mira and Makarov fell over. Garion too smiled at the guild master. "Good to see you master!" He added in his own cheerful voice.

"I hope you had a good time at the conference." Mira said. "I'm sure." Lucy said, placing a hand on the barmaid's shoulder.

"But master... what do you mean by that?" Erza asked.

"Oracion Seis's recent activity was the focus of much discussion at the conference." Makarov said seriously. "They pose an urgent threat that can no longer be ignored. Therefore they must be dealt with immediately!" Makarov furrowed his brow. "We must take them down before they can harm any of our fellow guilds we are sworn to protect!"

"And we gotta do all the heavy lifting right?" Gray asked sarcastically. "Typical..."

"Fairy tail will be taking them on by ourselves?" Juvia incredulously asked.

"We wouldn't..." Garion muttered.

"This enemy is far more powerful than any other we have faced before. To fight them alone would be too dangerous, our attack would surely incur the wrath of the entire Barem Alliance in no time. Which is why..." Makarov swept his arm out to the side. "...Fairy Tail will join a coalition of magical guilds!"

"A coalition!?" Everyone asked.

"What's a coalition?" Garion asked. Everyone immediately sweat dropped at Garion's question. "It's a team Garion." Mira said. "A team of guilds."

"Oh, okay. Thanks Mira!" Garion said cheerfully, prompting a few harder sweat drops.

"Anyway back to the point... Fairy Tail... Blue Pegasus... Lamia Scale... and Cait Shelter... These four guilds will select members to represent them in the allied force. Together we will work to bring down the enemy!" Makarov declared. _Cait Shelter? That's Wendy's guild! I wonder who they'll send..._

"But we can handle it ourselves gramps!" Natsu said, jumping to his feet. "In fact, I could probably do it alone." the fire dragon slayer declared.

An armour encased hand to the face showed the disagreement of a certain red haired wizard. "Don't be a fool! The master is wise to consider the long term consequences." Erza said, reprimanding Natsu. Salamander straightened his head before he glared at Erza.

"Whoa... just hold on a second you guys... we're only talking about six people aren't we? I mean are they seriously all that scary?" Lucy asked fearfully.

"They're the Oracion Seis, a member of the Barem Alliance. They are among the strongest dark wizards in Fiore, and we do not know what tricks they may have up their sleeves, so we are taking every precaution and measure we can to ensure that we stop them." Makarov said. "That doesn't make me feel any better!" Lucy pointed out, now looking even more terrified.

"Do not fear Lucy, we will be able to deal with them." Erza said, trying her best to reassure Lucy. "And what are you so worried about? You don't even know if you're gonna be part of the team picked by Gramps." Gray pointed out. Lucy blinked and relaxed somewhat. "Yeah I guess..." She said. "Still doesn't make me feel all that much better about it."

"Who do you think master's gonna pick?" Garion asked, looking at Juvia. "Oh he'll certainly pick my darling Gray! Maybe he'll pick us both and together we can stop the Oracion Seis! Oh it sounds so romantic~!" Gray's number one fan and president of his unofficial fan club declared lovingly, hearts in her eyes. "No way!" Gray yelled, his voice filled with terror. "If she's going then I ain't!"

"Gajeel and Juvia will be taking on another mission." Makarov said before he closed his eyes "I have decided on who the representatives of our guild will be." he said seriously. "Team Natsu will represent Fairy Tail in the allied force-"

"Ah yeah! I'm all fired up now!" Natsu roared, slamming a flame coated fist into his palm, a massive grin on his face. "Wait wait wait you mean I'm going!?" Lucy demanded fearfully. "Hmph... Very well then." Erza said. "Guess I don't have a choice..." Gray said, cracking his neck and losing his shirt.

Makarov narrowed his eyes. "I wasn't done." He said simply, drawing everyone's attention. "As I was saying, Team Natsu will represent us in the allied force..." His eyes scanned across the wizards currently assembled before coming to rest on Garion.

"... and so will Garion." he finished.

The blue eyed boy blinked several times and stared at the Fairy Tail guild master for several moments with a blank expression.

Then it hit him.

"M-M-M-M-Me?!" Garion demanded incredulously, his whole body tensing up and his eyes as wide as plates. A few of the assembled wizards gave Makarov stunned looks and many eyebrows were raised. "B-B-But I... I... I... I'm n-n-not..."

"Listen to me Garion." Makarov said, his voice soft and kind, yet a hint of firmness was present. "I know what you are going to say, but I wouldn't tell you to go unless I believed that you have the strength that is required for this mission. It will be dangerous, but I'm confident you can do it. You have the strength required." He looked at the members of Team Natsu. "Same goes for you four, I have complete faith in you and your abilities. Now..." The guild master turned and pointed towards the door. "... the dark guilds won't wait for you! Get out there and show them what Fairy Tail wizards can do!"

"Yeah!" Natsu and Happy declared simultaneously before charging towards the door. Erza smiled.

"Very well then. We shall see you later Master." The S-Class wizard said before making her way to the door.

"About time. Lets do this" Gray said, now only in his underwear, which was causing Juvia to be on the verge of passing out. He too began making his way to the door.

"This is a really bad idea..." Lucy whined, but followed the rest of her team. Garion was still rooted in place, a nervous feeling having taken control of his stomach. Makarov sighed before walking over to the boy and resting a hand on his shoulder. "Listen to me Garion, I believe you can do it. Whilst it is not a moment I like to remember, you did defeat Laxus, not a feat many can claim to have achieved. Remember what I told you before you went to fight him?"

"T-The guild is behind me?" Garion asked.

Makarov nodded, tightening his grip on the boys shoulder. "It always has been and always will be. Besides you have Team Natsu with you, so there's nothing to worry about!" The old man said cheerfully. His attempt to cheer Garion up worked and a smile spread across the boys face.

"O-Okay! I-I'll do my best master!" He said, trying to sound cheerful. Makarov grinned. "That's what I want to hear! Good luck my boy!" The guild master said. Garion nodded and took off towards the door, the nervous feeling in his stomach having been alleviated somewhat. As he got to the door he stopped and turned around. "We'll be back before you know it!" He declared before continuing on through the door. Once he was out of sight Makarov sighed.

"Something wrong master?" Cana asked. Makarov looked at the card wizard for a moment before he smiled. "No, it's just how humble that boy is never ceases to amaze me. He was the one who defeated Laxus, and yet he insists it is all thanks to Natsu and Gajeel, and that Laxus used up so much of his magic power before their fight." The guild master sighed again. "The world needs more people like Garion."

"Yeah... it sure does..." Cana said. "You sure sending him was a good idea?"

"Yes I'm sure. I am confident he can handle anything the Oracion Seis can throw at him." Makarov said. "He's growing up, and he needs experience with fighting dark guilds."

Juvia took a step forward. "Master, are you sure sending him against a guild like the Oracion Seis when he has no experience is a wise move?" She asked, causing Makarov to turn around.

"Oh stop your yammering, Garion's a real man and he can handle anything those dark guild punks can throw at him!" Elfman declared confidently. Makarov glanced at him before looking at Juvia.

"I didn't send him alone. He has Team Natsu there to help, and those brats have proven they can handle anything that's thrown at them. Besides..." Makarov bowed his head. "... I've just got a feeling Garion needs to be there, but I'm not sure why..." He glanced back at the open doorway.

"Please be careful my boy."

* * *

"I know I've said this before, but I've got a really bad feeling about this mission... And why am I here!?" Lucy demanded, her hands on her cheeks. "I'm not all that strong! It's not like I'm gonna be able to help you guys anyway!"

Team Natsu and Garion were in a wagon, Happy was driving. Currently they were on their way to the rendezvous point, one of the mansions of guild master Bob of Blue Pegasus.

"Looks this ain't no picnic for me either, so quit pouting would ya?" Gray asked. Lucy promptly started pouting and looked away with a "Hmph." Happy turned his head to look at the wizards in the back of the wagon and copied Lucy. Natsu, as usual, was looking ready to empty the contents of his stomach all over the floor. Erza was next to him, looking concerned and next to her was Garion, who was sitting with his legs crossed, back against the side of the wagon and head bowed.

"We're here for one reason, because master put his faith in us so lets not disappoint him." Erza declared, slamming her fist into her palm. Garion glanced at her before looking back down at the floor.

"But why me?" Garion asked. "I mean... couldn't master have sent Juvia and Gajeel instead?"

"Master had another mission planned for Gajeel and Juvia, didn't you hear him?" Happy asked, his voice muffled by the fish he was eating.

"Yeah but... why me?" Garion asked again.

"Because master has faith in you Garion." Erza said, turning to look at the boy. "And he's never wrong about it either. If he believes you can do it, then you must make sure you do not disappoint him. Do you understand?"

Garion looked at the S-Class wizard. After a few moments a smile spread across the boys face. "Yes I do. Thanks Erza, I'll do my best and do the master proud!" He said cheerfully. Erza smiled and nodded. "Good to hear." She affirmed.

"Ugh... slowly dying... need to stop soon... before its too late..." Natsu moaned as he slide to the floor, his motion sickness seriously taking its toll. The wagon went over an especially hard bump, jolting the contents of the wagon. Natsu's face turned an extremely sick looking shade of green, and in a moment of quick thinking Erza smashed his face in with a steel gauntlet, rendering him unconscious before his stomach could empty itself out, his body slumping on the floor. "Now then where were we?" She asked nonchalantly, prompting Lucy to sweat drop.

"You know... it just seems like we're always picked for this stuff." Lucy pointed out, still feeling a little perturbed by Erza's incapacitation of Natsu.

Erza looked at her. "You should consider it an honour. And today will be our first joint operation involving the other allied guilds. It's important that we all focus our efforts on starting to building a positive relationship between our guilds." she said. Before any further conversation could take place Happy intervened.

"There it is!" He declared. "The rendezvous spot!"

True to his words, a large mansion loomed out from between the trees. The wagon stopped by the door. Natsu had to be dragged out and woken up, but he nearly vomited anyway, despite being on solid ground.

The group reached the door and pushed it open. The inside of the room was dark, and there wasn't a sign of anyone in the room. "Great... another creepy old mansion..." Lucy commented.

"Its the second home of Blue Pegasus's master, Bob." Erza explained.

"Oh him." Gray said, his voice clearly showing he wanted more than nothing else than to see the Blue Pegasus guild master again. "He... makes me feel funny."

"Gray be nice... Master Bob may be a little eccentric but he does deserve our utmost respect." Erza said, the look on her face showing she wasn't quite sure of her own words.

"Yeah... eccentric..." Lucy said.

Garion wasn't paying attention to the conversation between the members of Team Natsu and was instead looking at the staircase.

"Why are you hiding?" Garion asked in a voice of genuine curiosity. Erza, Lucy and Gray looked at him. "What do you mean?" Erza asked. Garion turned his head around to look at Erza and raised his arm to point at the stair case.

"There's 3 people standing behind the staircase. Oh and a fourth one behind the door at the top of the staircase. He's strong, but his magic feels... weird." Garion said plainly.

Lucy glanced at Erza with a confused expression. "Garion can sense magical power extremely well, and at quite a fair distance too." The red head explained.

Suddenly the lights dimmed and a spotlight was projected from the ceiling onto the area at the bottom of the stairs. After some 'singing', 3 figures appeared.

"We are..." The middle figure said.

"...The Blue Pegasus..." The left one added.

"...Elite crew." The one on the right finished.

"The Trimens." They said in unison.

"Hundred knights Hibiki" Hibiki declared.

"Holy knight Eve" Eve said.

"Still knight Ren." Ren introduced.

All of them striking poses as they did so, obviously.

Garion blinked and cocked his head to the side as he looked at the three. As Lucy started fan-girling Garion kept on staring at them.

"Why are they acting like that?" He blurted out. Erza looked at Garion. "That's... just the way they are Garion. Don't worry about it." She said, not noticing Gray having a... freak out about being under dressed. "And they are not on the list." Lucy muttered, watching Gray freak out and Natsu press his face against a pillar.

Moments later Erza was surrounded by the Trimen and much to Garion's confusion escorted to a couch with a giant heart on the back. He looked around. _Where did that come from? Does his magic let him make furniture?_ He wondered. His confusion mounted when Eve pushed a table in front of the couch. Ren then escorted Lucy to a couch, the presence of which confused Garion even more.

"Um... er... what's going on?" Garion asked. "Aren't we... supposed to be having a meeting...?"

Garion's question went unnoticed as the Trimen tried harder and harder to flirt with Erza and Lucy. He watched the Trimen for a few more moments before sighing.

"Calm down men. Give these ladies... some breathing room." A smooth voice said. Garion looked at the stair case and blinked when he saw Ichiya standing at the top of the stairs..

"That voice... its silky smooth!" Lucy said, trembling slightly.

"Yes Ichiya sir!" Ren said.

"Him? Oh dear..." Erza said, sweat forming on her brow.

"It's been far too long miss Scarlet..." The dwarf said as he adjusted his suit and hair.

"Y-Yes a long time!" Erza said, and Garion's eyes widened when he saw her trembling. _I-I-Is Erza scared!?_ He thought, feeling extremely alarmed. "I never expected to see you here!"

"Oh how I've missed you my sweet honey!" Ichiya declared. For some reason Garion had the compulsion to look away. He obeyed and not only looked away but walked across the room to where Gray and Natsu were. The short man slid down the railing of the staircase, stopping at the bottom. He then yelled at his men to clean up the furniture they had brought out. He then turned his attention to the group.

"It seems that destiny has brought us together..." He pointed at Erza with two fingers. "Miss Erza..." He then pointed at Lucy. "Miss Lucy..." He then pointed at Gray, Natsu and Garion. "You three not so much." Gray's expression turned shocked and he just looked at Ichiya. Garion was looking at the doorway, his magical sense telling him that some powerful wizards were on their way. There was another one, very faint but getting stronger... and oddly familiar...

"Listen up you Blue Pegasus playboy wannabes! You'd be wise to keep your hands off these ladies, we clear?" Gray said, giving the 4 men a hard glare. "Clear as crystal, now take your leave."

Gray looked positively ready to smash something into a thousand pieces. Garion spun around and looked at them, confusion on his face. "Thanks for dropping by." Hibiki said. "Thanks for dropping by." Ren and Eve parroted.

"B-But we... we came here as part of the coalatian!" Garion said.

"Coalition." Gray said, correcting him. "And Garion's damn right, we came here on some serious business ya know, can you pretty boys even fight?" Gray demanded, narrowing his eyes.

"You wanna find out?" Ren threatened. "Yeah we're real tough pal." Eve added.

"FIGHT!? WELL COUNT ME IN!" Natsu declared, suddenly making a full recovery

"Everybody needs to calm down eeeeK!" Erza tensed up as Ichiya started 'sniffing' her.

"You're parfum, it still drives me crazy! Ahhha!" Ichiya said.

A moment later he was sent flying courtesy of a certain ticked off S-Class wizard. "You stay far away from me!" She demanded. The small man went flying towards the door before being stopped and having his head frozen.

"You dare greet us with this flying buffoon?" The man demanded. "Lamia scale deserves more respect. We insist on it." Lyon said, looking at the assembled wizards.

"It's you!" Gray said.

"It's you..." Lyon repeated, both wizards staring at each other in disbelief.

"Hey so you went and joined a guild after all?" Natsu said in an extremely cheerful voice. Garion looked between Gray and Lyon and frowned. Lyon glanced at his hand before throwing Ichiya across the room, the short man complaining as he collided with the floor.

"What is wrong with you!?" Gray demanded, spinning around to face Lyon.

"He was the one who attacked me Gray." Lyon shot back. Garion was starting to get worried. "Um guys... we don't need to fig-"

"Watch it, that's our leader you're messing with, pal." Ren said threateningly.

"How dare you?" Eve demanded.

"You and your men should just turn around and go home!" Hibiki ordered. Garion was looking between Lyon and the group extremely quickly.

"Guys we don't need to-" He started again but was interrupted again.

"I suppose that means women can stay and fight?" A voice asked. The carpet then suddenly tried to attack Lucy, confusing Garion. "Wait a minute... Sherry?" Lucy asked, spinning around to look at the door. Sure enough, the pink haired women was standing there. "No way! You joined the guild too?!"

"Hehehe... I was hoping you Fairy's hadn't forgotten who I am. But please, do try to forget who I was okay?" Sherry said somewhat sweetly.

"Still crazy..." Lucy muttered. Garion looked at her. "Who is she?" He asked. "It's a long story Garion, I'll explain later." The celestial wizard replied.

"I have been born anew, by the power of love!" Sherry declared.

"More! I must breath in more of your Parfum!" Ichiya declared

"NO, stay back!" Erza said, equipping a spear.

"Let's go Lyon!" Gray said, a determined look on his face. "My pleasure." Lyon replied.

"I'm ready to par-"

"COULD EVERY PLEASE STOP FIGHTING!"

As one, everyone froze and looked at Garion, who was panting slightly from shouting at the top of his lunges. "We came here to fight the Oracion Seis! Not to fight each other! How can we expect to defeat them if we can't even work together!?" He demanded.

"I agree." A voice boomed from the doorway. "The boy speaks wisely, this is not the time for petty squabbles." Everyone turned to see Jura standing tall and proud in the doorway.

"That's Jura?" Erza asked. Garion's eyes widened when he sensed Jura's magical power. _H-He's so powerful! I-Is he their guild master?_

 _"_ So that's really him..." Ren muttered. "Lamia Scale's top man, Iron rock Jura."

"Who?" Garion and Natsu asked at the same time.

"That guy is one of the ten wizard saints!" Happy explained. "Yeah... which means he's kind of a big deal." Lucy added in.

"So five from Fairy Tail and four from Blue Pegasus? Ha! Funny our guild only needed to send 3 members!" Sherry said. "Aw man, why do they always forget about me?" Happy asked, faux tears running down his face.

"It seems we have representatives from three guilds. The members from Cait Shelter have yet to arrive." Jura said.

"Yes, and about that guild..." Ichiya said from his position at the end of one of Erza's spears "... I hear their only sending one."

"Just one member?" Erza asked. The group looked at Ichiya in disbelief for a few moments. Suddenly Garion spun around and looked out the door. _No way... is that..._

"That's insane! We're supposed to be going up against a powerful group here!" Gray said in an incredulous tone.

"One? If that's true, how crazy intense is this guy gonna be?" Lucy asked. At that moment, the delegation from Cait Shelter ran through the door and Garion's eyes widened as far as they could. Moments later, the person in question tripped and landed face first on the floor, letting out a panicked yell as they did so. Everyone's attention shifted to the blue haired girl now lying on the floor.

"Ow..." The girl said, forcing herself off the floor. She quickly dusted herself off and when she raised her head to look at the group, her brown eyes met Garion's blue eyes. She froze, her eyes widening. For several moments, neither of them said anything. Then they both broke the silence in unison.

"Garion!?"

"Wendy?!"

* * *

 **And that's chapter 5! Thank you very much for reading and I hope you are having a good day, wherever you are or whatever you are doing. Please leave a review telling me what you thought, and please point out any mistakes I may have made with characterisation or whatever. Oh and I hope you all enjoyed that little scene with Garion and Gajeel, and just enjoyed the chapter in general.**

 **Once more, thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!**


	6. The Oracion Seis

**Hello and welcome to chapter 6! Nothing to say except thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites and I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer** **: I do not own Fairy Tail**

* * *

Garion and Wendy stared at each other in surprise, neither of them speaking. "Wendy!?" Garion asked again, breaking the silence that had fallen upon the entrance hall of the large mansion. "Why are you here?" He asked, genuine curiosity in his voice along with a great deal of confusion.

Wendy started. "I'm..." All of a sudden she seemed to remember that there was a large number of wizards in the room and that they were all looking at her with a myriad of looks ranging from interested to downright shocked. Shyly she held her hands behind her back and glanced around at the assembled wizards, a small embarrassed blush spreading across her cheeks. "I-I'm the representative from the Cait Shelter guild." She answered, directing it towards Garion but saying it with enough volume so that everyone could hear her. She looked at the group standing behind Garion. "My names Wendy Marvell, its nice to meet all of you!" She looked at Garion and a shy smile formed on her face. "And its nice to see you again too!" she added nervously.

A grin formed on Garion's face. "It's great to see you again too Wendy!" He exclaimed cheerfully, causing Wendy's feelings of nervousness to lessen somewhat.

"A girl?" Lyon and Gray asked in unison, regarding Wendy with confused looks.

"She's a kid!?" Lucy and Sherry asked in unison. A frown formed on Lucy's face. _How does she know Garion?_ She thought.

"She's... not handsome!" Ichiya said despondently from his location on the floor which was being ensured by Erza's boot on the top of his head.

"Nor is she a man." Erza said. "Why should it matter?" _And how is Garion acquainted with her?_ The S-Class wizard thought with mild curiosity.

"Wendy..." Ren muttered.

"Marvellous..." Eve continued.

"Cute." Hibiki added, drawing out the first syllable. Natsu was regarding the blue haired girl with a strange look.

Whilst the other wizards had been voicing their opinions on Wendy, Garion had been talking to her. "So how are you?" Garion asked, around the same time that Ichiya had voiced his complaint. Wendy, who was currently nervously rocking from side to side, tensed up and looked at Garion.

"Um... I'm... really nervous..." She admitted. Garion blinked and tilted his head to the side.

"Why?" He asked curiously.

"B-because I've never been part of a group of wizards like this." She explained. "It's just... I don't know if I'm going to be any help... and I'm a little scared..." She glanced towards the floor, still rocking from side to side. Before Garion could say any more Jura spoke.

"Now then since all guilds are present we can begin." The wizard saint declared.

"He's not even phased by this!?" Gray demanded incredulously.

"Obviously not." Lyon commented.

"What is Cait Shelter thinking, sending a little girl on this kind of mission?" Sherry asked. "They must be really hurting for members if they sent her here on her own."

"Hey!" Garion snapped, spinning around to look at Sherry, drawing everyone's attention. Many of the assembled wizards were surprised when they saw an annoyed and almost angry look on Garion's face, even Jura raised an eyebrow. "Just because she's young doesn't mean that she's weak! You don't even know what kind of magic she uses, it could be something really powerful!" He said, his attention fixed on Sherry. "Wendy is my friend, so could you please stop talking about her like that!"

Wendy was staring wide eyed at Garion, her mouth slightly agape. The sandy haired boy turned around to look at her and grinned, causing the blue haired girl to blush. Sherry blinked before she narrowed her eyes at Garion, huffing and tilting her head up and away from him after a few moments, a small sneer on her face.

"And also she isn't alone." A serious and refined voice said from the doorway. All the wizards present turned to look at the source of the voice. Happy froze in shock when he saw it was a white furred cat that looked just like him.

"What is this?" Gray asked, referring to the small white haired talking cat that had just arrived.

"A cat?" Lyon asked.

"Whoa she's just like Happy..." Natsu said.

"She can talk too!?" Lucy asked.

"Oh Carla, you followed me here?" Wendy asked, surprised at the appearance of her closest friend.

"Of course I did! You're far too young to be travelling unaccompanied child." Carla replied. She then looked at Garion who was giving her his usual confused look. "I thank you for standing up for Wendy." She said politely.

Garion blinked before he scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "I-It was nothing... Wendy's my friend so I'm just doing what a good friend does." He said. Carla gave a curt nod before turning to look at Wendy.

"But child, you must learn to stand up for yourself when that happens." She chided. Wendy nodded her head glumly in reply.

"Pretty kitty." The Trimens said flirtatiously.

"You flirt with cats too!?" Lucy asked incredulously.

Carla looked to her left and her eyes fell upon Happy. The blue haired Exceed looked at Carla for several moments before his eyes became hearts. The small cat started shaking and saying "Thumpidy thump" out loud as he ogled Carla. The white haired Exceed regarded him for several moments before turning her nose up and looking away from him, causing Happy's jaw to nearly fall off in shock. He then made his way over to Lucy and clung to her leg. Not much after that, he started glaring at the celestial wizard about something. Garion was confused by Happy's sudden change in behaviour, and was looking at the Exceed with his head tilted to the side.

"Sorry..." Wendy said shyly, her eyes darting around as she spoke. "I'm probably not what you expected. I know I'm much smaller and younger than most of you... and I may not be much of a fighter but I can use all kinds of support magic so please... let me join the group I'd be so embarrassed if you sent me home!" She pleaded. Carla looked up at the blue haired girl and sighed before placing her paws on her hips.

"You'll never gain their respect if you can't show confidence child!" She chided.

"I'm sorry Carla!" Wendy apologised, holding her hands nervously under her chin.

"I swear you'll drive me to cat-nip." Carla said, crossing her arms.

"I can't help it!" Wendy whined and closed her eyes, prompting Carla to sigh. Suddenly the sky maiden felt something come to rest on her shoulder and she opened her eyes to see Garion had put a hand on her shoulder and was giving her a toothy grin with his eyes closed.

"It's all right Wendy!" He said cheerfully. "If you know support magic I guess that means you won't need to fight, so leave that to us!" He opened his eyes and his grin turned into a smile. "And don't worry, I'm probably the same age as you so its fine! It'll be great for you to join us!" Wendy blinked before a nervous smile spread across her face, whilst Carla had narrowed her eyes slightly at Garion.

"T-thanks Garion!" Wendy said, managing to sound cheerful despite her nervousness.

"Yes, thank you indeed." Carla said, her voice not sounding overly friendly.

Garion's smile grew wider. "Its a pleasure." He looked at the blue haired girl for a few more moments. "I promise I'll protect you Wendy." He suddenly blurted out, acting on a gut feeling he had just gotten. Wendy blinked and felt heat rush to her cheeks.

"Eh... huh?" She blurted out. "Oh um... T-t-Thanks G-Garion!" the blue haired girl blurted out, her nervousness returning in full force. She looked at Garion's face, a cheery, innocent look beaming back at her, his light blue eyes looking into her brown ones. Her nervousness started to melt away because of the look on the boys face and a genuine smile spread across her face. Carla was examining Garion closely.

 _He seems nice, and he does seem to genuinely care about Wendy... but I must still keep an eye on him, just to be safe. He's already made a promise to protect Wendy, and yet they hardly know each other!_ She thought.

"It's nothing Wendy!" He said cheerfully, a full force grin forming on his face. Before the conversation could continue Hibiki seemed to appear out of nowhere and pulled Wendy away from Garion.

"Would you please come with me lovely lady?" He asked flirtatiously.

"Um... okay..." Wendy said, completely caught off guard by Hibiki's sudden appearance.

"Bad touch!" Lucy cried, shocked at Hibiki's action. Garion blinked and stared at Hibiki as he lead Wendy away. Then sort of realising what was going on he grew extremely confused.

"Um... what?" He asked. He looked at Lucy. "W-why's he suddenly talking to Wendy? Does he also want to be her friend?" He asked the celestial wizard.

"Um... something like that... I don't think you really need to know Garion." Lucy replied, sweat dropping at the Trimens antics.

"You sensed it too?" Ichiya asked Jura. "That girls parfum is quite unique... and so is the boys... they are no ordinary children..." he trailed off.

"I sensed that about them right away." Jura replied, looking down at Ichiya. "The magic they possess is somehow different from out own. The girls magic seems to be similar to that of the pink haired boy from Fairy Tail. As for the the young boy..." He glanced over at Garion who was looking at Wendy as she was surrounded by the Trimens. "I can feel darkness, as well as light. But they feel... different from any light or darkness magic I have ever sensed before... and there is something else... something hidden beneath the surface of those 2 magic's... a kind of purity that seems to shine like a sun from within him..."

"Indeed... a most curious parfum... I've never smelled anything like it..." Ichyia commented.

"As for the girl... it seems Lady Erza has noticed her power as well..." The two wizards glanced at the S-class wizard, who was currently regarding Wendy with a blank look but both could tell the gears of her mind were turning.

"Impressive..." Ichiya muttered.

"What's happening?" Wendy asked, currently extremely uncomfortable due to the attention that the Trimens were giving her.

"We're pampering a princess!" Eve said, placing a glass of juice on the table.

"You're the cutest girl I've seen all day." Ren complimented, making Wendy feel even more uncomfortable.

"Would you like to freshen up?" Hibiki asked, holding out a steaming handkerchief for Wendy.

"Uhhh... please help me..." Wendy muttered, the request aimed at Carla.

"Just what do you expect me to do?" Carla asked sarcastically, prompting Wendy to laugh nervously.

Garion was looking at Wendy and was frowning. He could tell Wendy was uncomfortable, so he walked over and stopped in front of the table. "Are you all right Wendy?" He asked. The Trimens all looked at him and they frowned.

"Um..." Was all she said. Carla glanced sideways at her and sighed.

"The lady is just fine, we are taking good care of her." Eve said, looking at Garion before looking back at Wendy.

"Yes we are." Ren added.

"The very best care, fit only for a lady of her status." Hibiki commented. All three of the Trimens crowded Wendy, blocking Garion's vision of her and making her even more nervous.

"So Wendy... do you like your men brash or proper?" Hibiki asked.

"Brash right?" Eve asked.

"You are just the cutest..." Ren said. All three leaned closer to Wendy,

"I told you men they are here on business!" Ichiya snapped. "Now clean this place up!" He ordered.

"Yes master right away!" The three said, immediately carrying the couch off and leaving a shell-shocked Wendy and a unimpressed Carla behind.

"Man~!" Ichiya said, striking a pose.

Garion walked up to Wendy. "Are... are you okay?" He asked, a concerned expression on his face. He didn't understand what the Trimens had been trying to do, but he had been able to see that it had made Wendy very uncomfortable. Wendy jolted as Garion spoke and she looked at him.

"O-Oh yeah I'm fine Garion." She said, still recovering from the experience of having the Trimens fawn over her. Garion's expression changed into a smile, and Wendy couldn't help but smile back at him. The two moved to stand next to Lucy.

A purple matt with spotlights appeared on the floor, Ichiya positioned in the middle of it. The spotlights activated, bathing the Blue Pegasus man in yellow light. He struck a pose. "Okay. Now that all the involved party's are present, I think its about time to get the mission briefing under way." He said in a serious tone.

"You're gonna brief us through interpretative dance?" Lucy asked sarcastically.

Ichiya ignored her and continued speaking. "Our first order of business, is determining the location of the Oracion Seis!" He declared. Nearly everyone regarded the man with a serious expression, the exception being Happy who was staring at Carla. "...right after I make a letter of the alphabet." Ichiya said, quickly moving to his left, still posing. The Trimens started clapping, offering a cheer of encouragement to their leader.

About a minute later Ichiya returned. "Much better! Now please, pay close attention..." He began. "To the north lies the Worth Woodsea where the ancients once sealed a powerful force. A magic... called Nirvana~!" The dwarf said the last word in an overly dramatic voice.

At the mention of the word Nirvana, despite not having ever heard it before, Garion felt a shiver run down his spine. "Those poses are getting really old." Gray muttered.

"Nirvana?" Lucy and Natsu asked at the same time.

"Never heard of it before..." Lyon said.

"Do you know what it is?" Sherry asked Jura, turning her head to look up at the wizard saint.

"No... I do not..." He said in a low voice, his expression serious.

"We don't know much about this magic other than its name, and that it is destructive in nature." Ren supplied. Garion immediately became aware of his heart beating in his chest and he took a deep breath to try and relax. Worry filled the pit of his stomach, not making his efforts at calming down work any better.

"And that the Oracion Seis wants it badly." Eve added.

"Destruction magic..." Natsu muttered.

"Okay... bad feeling confirmed." Lucy said, holding a hand to her chest. Wendy nervously swallowed and looked at Garion. The boy looked back and gave her a nervous smile, which calmed Wendy's nerves a little.

"We assume that's why they travelled to the Worth Woodsea. They're desperate to get their hands on such a powerful magic." Hibiki explained.

Ichiya fixed them all with a serious glare. "To prevent that from happening..." The Trimens then, as usual, struck a pose along with the dwarf.

"We must destroy the Oracion Seis!" All 4 representatives from Blue Pegasus declared.

"I'm so over the posing." Lucy muttered with a deadpan expression.

"I think they're starting to grow on me." Gray said.

Garion's bad feeling was temporarily suspended as he frowned at the Blue Pegasus members. _Why do they act like that?_ He wondered. He wasn't judging them, he was genuinely curious as to why they acted the way they did.

"We may have the advantage in numbers but remember..." Ren started.

"We cannot underestimate them." Eve finished.

"They're incredibly strong, we may well be in over our heads." Hibiki said. He then raised his arm and snapped his fingers, summoning his archive magic. Garion's attention became focused on the magical display, his eyes widened slightly in wonder.

"That's archive..." Jura said.

"Don't believe I've seen it in use before..." Lyon added.

"And it does what exactly?" Sherry asked, not sounding the least bit impressed.

3 screens appeared in mid air in front of the group. "Storing information, such as these photographs of our enemies, don't ask how we got 'em." Hibiki said, not sounding offended or even annoyed at Sherry's comment. "First up is the snake wizard, Cobra."

"Beady eyes and a mischievous smirk? He looks like trouble to me." Natsu commented flatly.

"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black." Gray and Lyon said in unison.

"Next is a wizard who, judging from his name likely uses speed magic. Meet Racer." Hibiki explained.

"I don't know what it is, but I don't like the looks of this guy." Gray commented.

"I don't either." Lyon added.

"Then there's a wizard who's willing to wipe out an entire military unit, if the price is right. Divine eyes Hoteye." Hibiki said.

"The guy kills for money?" Sherry asked.

"Turns my stomach." Jura growled angrily.

"She's gorgeous but just as vicious. This is Angel."

"She's the beautiful but deadly type huh? Is this chick for real?" Lucy asked with a dead panned expression. Despite the fact his stomach had turned at least a dozen times in the last few minutes, Garion frowned at the name of the women. He then got an even worse feeling about her than the rest for some reason.

"The next member is such a mystery, all we know is his name: Midnight."

"That's an odd name, does it correlate to his power?" Erza asked.

"Finally, the commander of Oracion Seis. Brain." Hibiki said. When Garion laid eyes on the image of the dark guild's master, his stomach turned cold from fear.

"There you have it. Alone they can wipe out entire guilds and together they're unstoppable." Hibiki finished. Garion's stomach turned and he started hearing and feeling his heart pound in his chest again. "We have 13 to their six but that's our only advantage."

Lucy was trembling and Wendy had her hands held up to her mouth. "Question... can I volunteer to stay behind and not die today?" Lucy asked.

"I don't wanna die either so may I please go home?" Wendy asked, fear completely gripping the blue haired girl.

"You may not!" Carla snapped. "We have a job to do child!" She snapped.

"Since they didn't count us you wanna get out of here and find some trash cans to raid?" Happy asked dreamily. All he got in reply was a huff and Carla turning her nose up at him. Garion glanced at Wendy and his eyes widened when he saw how nervous she was. But before he could say or do anything the briefing continued.

"Curb your fear my friends." Ichiya declared, striking a pose. "There is more to our operation than mortal combat. With your help perhaps we can find the enemies stronghold!"

"Stronghold?" Garion and Natsu asked. _And what's mortal combat?_ Garion pondered for a moment.

"Yeah you heard the man." Ren said. "We've looked everywhere but have had no luck."

"Here's the deal..." Eve said, and a screen showing the Worth Woodsea appeared in the air in front of him. "They've gotta have a temporary base in the Worth Woodsea."

"And once we've located it, our plan is to gather the Oracion Seis inside!" Ichiya declared.

"How do we do that?" Gray asked, not sounding convinced.

"WE BEAT EM' UP AND DRAG THEIR BUTTS THERE!" Natsu declared enthusiastically.

"He's a little too excited about this." Lucy said dryly.

"What's the next part of the plan?" Erza asked out loud. In response, Ichiya pointed to the roof, prompting everyone to look at the ceiling.

"Then... we'll give them a one way ticket to oblivion! Courtesy of Christina, the majestic pride of the Blue Pegasus guild!" Ichiya stated proudly. Everyone's eyes widened in surprise.

"I've heard about the magic bomber but I thought it was just a myth!" Sherry said in surprise. Garion was looking at the dwarf with an equally stunned expression. _I-It's real!? It must be so cool!_ He thought, his innocence shining through despite his mood a few moments previously.

"Whaoh! Is that necessary, there's only six of them!" Lucy asked, stunned by the plan.

"That's the type of enemy we face!" Jura declared seriously. Lucy looked at him and almost jumped out of her skin.

"Sir yes sir!" She said fearfully. A shadow was cast over Jura's rock hard features, currently carved into a serious expression.

"Remember... under no circumstance should you ever engage the enemy in solo combat!" The wizard saint declared. "Our best bet is to separate them and devote two wizards to each fight. The remaining wizard can aid whoever is struggling the most." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Uuuhhhhh this is a total nightmare!" Lucy whined, shaking from fear.

"I can't take the pressure!" Wendy squeaked.

"Would you two stop acting like children!" Carla snapped in an annoyed tone.

This did little to calm Wendy's nerves and and in fact only made her shaking worse. She didn't want to do this, she didn't want to be here, she was useless compared to everyone else and wouldn't probably be able to help that much and she'd probably be targeted because of her support mag-

 _"I promise I'll protect you Wendy."_

Those words echoed in her mind. She slowly turned her head to look at the dual element wizard. Her stomach somehow dropped even further when she saw his nervous and fearful expression and her nervous shaking intensified. Almost as if he felt her eyes upon him, Garion turned his head to look at the blue haired girl. His eyes widened when he saw that she was in an even worse state than the last time he had laid eyes upon her.

He blinked and then he got the same gut feeling he'd had earlier. His nervous and fearful expression faded and was replaced with a determined yet kind smile. He reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey I promised I'll protect you Wendy, so don't worry." He said, trying to calm her down.

Wendy tensed up a bit more. "B-But this is so scary! I-I don't think I'll be much help... and I don't wanna die..." She stammered, casting her eyes downwards. Garion looked at her and tightened his grip on her shoulder, prompting the Sky Maiden to look back up at the boy.

"You're not going to die Wendy. I promised I'd keep you safe, and that's what I'm gonna do." His smile widened, causing Wendy to start to relax somewhat. "And don't worry, I'm scared too. I'm probably just as scared as you are. Also..." Garion's smile faded slightly. "... I'm not really that strong either... so I doubt I'll be much help... but I'll make sure that you're safe!" His grin returned in full force as he finished speaking.

Wendy stared at Garion for a few moments before a nervous smile spread across her face and she felt herself relax. "O-Oka-" she started.

The front door of the mansion exploded, courtesy of a certain fire-dragon slayer. "Natsu wait!" Erza demanded, but her command fell on deaf ears as Natsu charged off.

"Ready or not here I come!" The salmon haired boy yelled as he sprinted off. The 4 Fairy Tail wizards ran out the door, trying to catch up with him, but they stopped when they saw just how fast he was going.

"Where do you think you're going!?" Lucy shouted after Natsu, who was already too far away to hear her.

"Always acting without a thought in his head..." Erza stated, clearly sounding annoyed.

"Some days I wonder about his mental health." Lucy said despondently.

Gray smirked. "What do you guys wanna bet he didn't even hear the plan?"

"I'll bet five fish he didn't!" Happy added in.

"Didn't the wizard saint man say we shouldn't fight them in... er..." Garion scratched the back of his head, trying to remember the words Jura had used.

Erza let a small smile of amusement grace her lips and she looked at the young boy. "Solo combat Garion. And yes he did, but Natsu..."

"He ain't exactly the best at following instructions. Or even listening to them." Gray finished.

The rest of the wizards were looking rather surprised by Natsu's sudden relocation of the front door all across the surrounding area. The Trimens looked particularly miffed about the whole thing.

"Ugh... over kill much?" Ren asked, scratching his head.

"Yeah no kidding..." Eve added, a shocked look on his face.

Hibiki had a shocked and yet resigned look on his face. "Just great... we're gonna have to fix it..." he muttered, annoyed.

Erza looked in the direction Natsu had run for a few more moments before she looked at the group. "Enough gawking. Move." she said firmly, showing that it wasn't a suggestion, it was a command. She then turned and started running.

"Guess we're playing catchup with that dork." Gray muttered before he took off.

"Awwww do we have too?" Lucy whined.

"Double time it!" Erza yelled as she ran off.

"Quit crying!" Gray snapped at Lucy as she started running and crying at the same time. Garion was about to take off after them when he remembered Wendy was still there, and he turned around to look at the girl. The Trimens then ran off and so did Sherry and Lyon.

"Hey." Garion said, drawing Wendy's attention. The blue haired girl looked at him, her nervous expression having returned but not nearly as bad as it was earlier. He smiled at her. "Wanna get going?" He asked.

Wendy nervously swallowed and looked at him for a few moments. A nervous smile spread across her face and she nodded. "Y-Yeah!" She said, finding some courage. She looked down at Carla. "Lets go Carla. We need to catch up with them r-right?" The sky maiden said, trying to sound brave but it was obvious she was still nervous. The white furred Exceed regarded the girl for a moment before she nodded.

"Indeed. Let's be off then." She curtly said. Garion looked at Wendy and smiled again.

"I'll go first." He said. Wendy and Carla nodded in agreement and they set off, Garion keeping his eyes, ears and magical sense open and alert with Wendy and Carla following closely behind him. The three were unaware of Happy following a fair distance behind them and shouting to try and grab Carla's attention.

The three entered the Worth Woodsea a few minutes later, following the magical signature of Natsu and the others, and both Wendy and Garion shuddered slightly as they did so. The eerie atmosphere and strange feeling of it was something that Garion most certainly did not like and he became even more alert, keeping his magic on standby. As they cleared the trees and gained sight of Team Natsu and the others Garion's head snapped back and he looked around at the sky.

"What's wrong?" Wendy asked nervously, her eyes now darting about. As they reached the others, Garion suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky, his eyes wide from amazement.

"Whoa..." He muttered. Wendy followed his line of sight and her eyes also widened when she saw the Magical bomber Christina, the pride of the Blue Pegasus guild, flying over-head.

"It's so cool..." Lucy, who was standing nearby, said in amazement.

"Horses can fly too?" Happy asked, a stupefied expression on his face.

"Please refrain from opening your mouth again." Carla said bluntly.

"All right, lets split up and start searching for their temporary base." Erza ordered.

"I'm flying the bomber thing!" Natsu yelled, an excited grin spreading across his face.

"Not happening!" Gray rebuked. Before any further conversation could take place, the right wing of the magical bomber exploded, causing it to suddenly jolt to the left. Everyone's eyes widened in shock and a few people let out stunned gasps.

"What's wrong with Christina?!" Hibiki demanded in a panicked voice. Several more explosions racked the legendary airborne vessel, large amounts of machinery and parts of its hull being blown off and sent tumbling towards the ground.

"Oh no!" Wendy gasped, her hands held over her mouth in shock. Garion's jaw had dropped and he felt cold fear run through him as the Christina crashed landed, a massive explosion erupting as it did so. Everyone was frozen in shock.

"This doesn't bode well!" Lyon chocked out in a panicked voice. A massive cloud of smoke rose from the crash sight, blocking the view of the forest in front of them. "No way... its... its been..." Garion muttered. A moment later he sensed several magical signatures approaching from on front of the group and he tensed up.

"Gray..." Natsu said seriously.

"I know, we've got company..." Gray said angrily. "Everyone stay frosty!" The ice wizard ordered. The entire group tensed up and readied for battle.

"I'm not sure I can do this!" Wendy whined from her position behind a large rock.

"Don't hide!" Carla snapped.

6 figures appeared in the smoke. They grew more distinct with each passing second and eventually the Oracion Seis came into view. "Yeah it's gotta be them... the Oracion Seis..." Lucy muttered. The dark guild members regarded the allied forces with looks ranging from indifference to cocky smirks to a strangely happy expression on Hoteye's face. Brain tilted his head forwards slightly and started speaking.

"Lowly maggots... swarming together." The leader of the Oracion Seis muttered.

"I'm afraid short stuff isn't going to make it to the party." Angel taunted.

"And neither is that big bald wizard saint... we took him down!" Gemini said cheerfully.

"They're defeated!?" Lyon asked, shocked.

"Impossible..." Hibiki stated, equally as shocked as Lyon.

"No way..." Garion muttered.

Cobra smirked. "There's terror in their voices, I can hear it!" He said.

"The quicker we wrap this up, the better. I'll run you over so fast it'll make your head spin!" Racer stated confidently.

"Money determines strength in this world, Oh yeah! If you save but a penny today, it shall become a vast fortune in the future! Furthermore..." Hoteye declared.

"Enough with the preaching Hoteye." Racer and Cobra said in unison.

"Is it weird I'm terrified of the snoring guy?" Lucy asked as she looked at the sleeping form of Midnight, the mysterious wizard sitting on his floating carpet and snoring loudly.

"I have to admit I didn't except you to show yourselves." Erza said seriously. Silence fell between the two groups as they weighed each other up. The cold feeling in Garion's stomach had gotten worse now that he was face to face with the dark guild, but he retained a determined expression on his face as he stared down the dark wizards.

Natsu cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Ready?" He asked Gray.

"You bet." The ice wizard replied, a grin spreading across his face as well.

Cobra smirked again. "Want an invitation?" He taunted.

"You being here is enough for us!" Gray and Natsu yelled as they charged the dark wizards. Before they could reach the dark wizards, Racer disappeared and a moment later re-appeared between the two. Before they could react the dark wizard kicked them both in separate directions. The rest of the legal guild wizards rushed in to the battle, engaging various members of the Seis.

Garion looked to see who would need his help, but before he could do anything Racer appeared and kicked him in the side, sending him flying through the air. "Too slow kid!" He yelled, a moment later appearing directly in the path of Garion's flight, ready to deliver another blow. Before the dark wizard could however, Garion unfurled his wings and changed course so Racer's kick missed him by a hairs breadth. The young boy summoned a ball of light in his left hand and fired it at Racer, only to gasp in pain when the speed wizard effortlessly dodged it and delivered a powerful kick to Garion's stomach, sending him flying into the ground a few meters away. Racer then moved off to engage the other wizards as Garion struggled to his feet.

When he looked around his stomach dropped. The Trimens, Gray and Natsu were already down for the count. Lyon and Sherry were still struggling against Hoteye and Erza was engaging Cobra. Garion looked over at Brain who was observing the fight with a blank look on his face and Garion felt his stomach drop further. _I-If they're beating us and its only 4 of them... H-How will we be able to beat all of them!?_ He wondered. Cobra obviously heard Garion's thoughts and glanced over at the boy, a smirk on his face.

"It's simple kid. You won't." He taunted as he dodged a swipe from Erza. "You can't hope to beat us..."

"Don't listen to him Garion, we can defeat them!" Erza yelled as she once more took a swing at Cobra, her leopard armour vastly enhancing her speed.

Cobra's smirk grew. "Tch, keep lying to yourself then _Titania_." He taunted, saying Erza's title almost as if it were an insult. "And I wouldn't try helping kid." He added as he ducked under another swipe from Erza. "Of course you can try, but I'll be able to predict all your moves... so it won't even make a difference." Garion was about to do something when a darkness coated fist slammed into his face, sending him crashing to the ground. When he managed to look at his attacker, he was shocked to find... himself.

"How DARE you wear the wings of an angel!" Angel snapped, a look of fury on her face. "You make a mockery of what they are, wearing those wings. You do not deserve them!" She said. A sadistic smirk spread across her face. "And so, for daring to try and claim to be like an angel, I will punish you. Gemini, tear them off with his own hands."

"Yes!" Gemi-Garion said enthusiastically, his arms coated in dark magic and a disturbing smile on his face. Gemi-Garion reached down to grab Garion's wings, but the moment he made contact with them they vanished. Garion rolled onto his back and punched his off-guard clone in the face with a darkness coated fist. He then followed up with a darkness strike enhanced upper-cut, knocking his copy into the air. The celestial spirit spun around in the air to face Garion and unleashed several spheres of dark energy, forcing Garion to evade. As he dodged them however, he noticed something odd.

 _His magic power is lower than mine... and these attacks feel... different. Almost... not quite like my magic..._ In fact as each second passed, he noticed that the attacks just got a tiny bit weaker. Before he could perform any kind of counter attack, Racer appeared and kicked him in the back, sending him flying to the ground. "Come on Angel pick up the pace and stop messing around!" Racer chided.

Angel tch'd. "Very well then. Gemini, finish him off with his light magic."

"Aye!" Gemi-Garion chirped. His darkness magic faded and a moment later, just like when Garion revealed them, two white wings formed on his back, the mark of Fairy Tail in the midd-

"AAAAGGHHHH!" Gemi-Garion cried out in pain, his wings suddenly fading as he collapsed to the ground. His body started to convulse as the celestial spirit screamed in pain, and he clawed violently at the ground. Garion, from his position on the ground, stared in shock at his clone as it's body almost started to break apart, cracks forming on its skin. Angel, realising what was happening, immediately issued Gemini a command.

"Gemini release the transformation at once!"

Gemi-Garion's body was coated in light for a few brief moments before Gemi and Mini separated. The two then, without Angel's consent, returned to the celestial spirit world. Angel glared daggers at Garion, furious and confused. She started to reach for another of her keys.

"Garion..." Brain muttered, looking at the boy in question with a shocked look. Cobra, who had just defeated Erza, glanced sideways at his guild master.

"Eh? That kid? What about him?" Cobra asked. Curiosity got the better of the snake wizard and he decided to listen in on the boys thoughts. He first saw Garion's life at the guild, then the jobs he went on, then his interactions with his guild ma-

"AGH!" Cobra cried as he pressed his hands to his temples, his face contorted into a visage of pain. Racer glanced at him, a small frown on his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"That damn kid..." Cobra muttered. He looked at Garion, a sneer present on his face. He glanced at Racer. "I'll explain later." He said.

Brain suddenly grinned. "After all this time... and I even gave up looking for you..." he said. All the members of the Seis turned to look at him, many of their brows raised.

"W-what...?" Erza asked from her location on the ground, her face twisted in pain as the poison of Cubellious started spreading through her body.

"Brain? What are you talking about?" Racer asked. His guild master glanced at him before looking back at Garion.

"This little child here happens to be the user of two extremely rare magic's, Angels Light Magic and Demons Darkness Magic, and if I'm not mistaken, has an extremely large amount of natural magical energy and talent. I was very interested in studying them and learning what they could do back when I first heard of them, 14 years ago." Brain's sadistic grin spread further across his face. "But of course, your parents had to get in the way."

Garion's eyes widened. He couldn't even speak, he could only stare motionless and completely shocked at Brain as he spoke. "It was rather irksome when they spirited you away like that, right before I was about to get my hands on you. Of course... they paid for it in the end..." The dark wizard said almost with dark glee. "But now... you are no longer of any interest to me." Brain raised his staff and started gathering magical power. "Prepare for oblivions embrace!" He said. Dark green tendrils of power emerged from the ground around Garion and the others, and Garion felt sick to his stomach at just how _evil_ it felt. It started to drain his strength and as Brain build up more magical power, the dual element wizard found himself shaking from fear.

"DARK RONDO!" Brain chanted, but before he could finish casting his spell, he noticed Wendy. His magic power faded and a shocked expression formed on his face.

"What's the matter Brain?" Racer asked.

"Are you gonna cast that thing or what?" Cobra asked.

"Wendy..." Brain muttered in a tone filled with disbelief. He stared at the sky maiden. In reply, Wendy slid even further behind the rock she was using for cover.

"What's the matter Brain? You gonna cast the spell or what?" Racer asked again.

"Do you know her?" Cobra asked.

"No doubt about it, that's Wendy." Brain said. "The maiden of the sky."

"What? Maiden of the sky?" Gray asked, looking at Brain with a confused expression.

"Wendy...?" Garion asked, struggling to turn around to look at the blue haired girl. He had no idea what 'Maiden of the Sky' meant, or what Brain wanted with her, or how Brain even knew about his parents, but one thing was clear to Garion: He had to protect her. He tried to stand up, his body sore from the blows Racer had dealt to him.

"To think we simply stumbled upon her here. We've made quite a find my friends." Brain said, a twisted smile on his face. "Grab her!" He held his staff out and it launched a green steam of his darkness magic. It arched over the group and grabbed Wendy, the girl screaming in terror as it did. The hand then started to pull her back to Brain and the Seis.

"Wendy!" Happy and Carla cried out. They took off after her, running as fast as they were able. "Unhand her now!" Carla demanded.

"Help me!" Wendy cried out. The tendril of magic holding her shook suddenly and weakened. She turned around to see Garion with an arm coated in light with what looked like a blade sticking out trying to cut through the darkness magic. His efforts were in vain as Racer appeared a moment later and kicked the boy away.

"Not so fast buddy!" He taunted before returning to his previous position.

"Grab my paw!" Carla ordered. Wendy reached out and grabbed... Happy's paw. "You've got the wrong cat!" the white furred Exceed snapped. Moments later, Wendy and Happy disappeared into Brain's staff.

"WENDY!" Garion, Carla and Natsu cried out, but Garion was the loudest.

"I have no use for the rest of you, begone! Dark Rondo!" Brain said as he unleashed the attack. As it bore down on the allied forces, everyone tried to get to cover, but it was no use. Garion felt fear paralyse him, and he couldn't help but watch as the attack got closer and closer.

"IRON ROCK WALL!" A deep, booming voice roared. As if commanded, the earth moved and formed a barrier above the allied forces. The Dark Rondo harmlessly slammed into the solid earth roof above the wizards. "Just in the nick of time..." Jura muttered as the attack ended.

"That was awesome!" Sherry cheered. Hope surged in the allied forces as Jura walked amongst them.

"You're the best wizard ever!" Eve praised.

"I'll second that. We owe you one." Hibiki added, his voice filled to the brim with relief.

"Yeah we were almost goners, thanks a million!" Lucy added.

Natsu forced himself to his knees. "Okay, lets take em down!" he said. The smoke cleared to reveal that the Oracion Seis was gone. "Huh?"

"Their long gone by now." Gray said, despondently.

"What!? We let them get away!" Natsu complained.

"Oh Wendy..." Carla said, her voice filled with worry.

"They wiped the floor with us..." Ren hissed.

"Well they're a lot stronger than we are. We never stood a chance against them." Eve said.

"The Oracion Seis... what unbelievable power..." Lyon muttered. Anything further that was said, Garion didn't hear. He was on his hands and knees, a shadow over his eyes. He stared at the ground, completely unmoving.

 _I failed._

The words rang through his mind. He'd failed. He'd made a promise to Wendy, a promise that he would protect her, and he'd failed. His fingers dug into the ground and he started shaking. The relieving feeling of Ichiya's painkiller parfum went unnoticed by Garion as it swept over him. _I made a promise and I couldn't keep it..._ The words repeated in his mind. Garion had always managed to keep his promises, especially ones like the one he'd made to Wendy. But now... he'd failed... and when it had mattered most... now Wendy was a prisoner of the Seis, and she probably blamed Garion for it. He felt anger and frustration build inside of him at his failure to defend Wendy and he dug deeper into the ground with his fingers.

A minute later Garion removed his fingers from the ground and stood up, most of his anger and frustration having faded. He looked around, all the other wizards were moving off into the nearby forest and Garion followed them. _We have to rescue Wendy._ He thought. Although he was now resolved to rescue Wendy, he still felt guilty. The group entered the forest, and Garion was shocked when he saw the state Erza was in.

"You okay?" Natsu asked, his tone worried.

"What's the matter?" Lucy asked.

"Erza?" Garion asked, alarmed. The S-class wizard cried out in pain.

"I'm no doctor but it looks like the venom from her snake bite is spreading." Lucy said worriedly.

"Master Ichiya!" Eve said, sounding alarmed.

"I got this men..." Ichiya said confidently. "I know what you need my honey... a little pain killer parfum! AROMA INCREASE!" He commanded, doubling the output of his painkiller. It had no visible effect on Erza and she actually seemed to be in even more pain.

"Since when are painkillers an antidote for snake venom?" Lucy asked.

"This parfum does more than ease pain it also has a cleansing effect, it'll help her body expel any toxins." Hibiki explained.

Garion frowned, not quite understanding what Hibiki had just said.

"Oh yeah!" Eve said. Unfortunately despite the increase in magic, there was no visible change in Erza's condition.

"Erza! Are you all right?" Gray asked worriedly.

"It seems like she's in even more pain now!" Natsu stated, his voice sounding as equally worried as Gray's.

"Erza!" Garion cried. Her magic power was dropping steadily with each passing second, adding to Garion's worry.

"Huh? You think so?" Ichiya asked, sounding flabbergasted. Erza's screams of agony confirmed Natsu's observation. "Oh maaaan..." Ichiya said, who was starting to sound worried.

"Erza... hang in there!" Natsu said.

"What'll we do?" Lucy asked.

"I'm sorry... Lucy... I need to borrow your belt..." Erza said. Gray, upon realising what Erza was about to do, immediately grabbed Garion's shoulders and spun him around so he was looking away. The boy blinked in confusion and looked around.

"Gray? Why are-" He started asking.

"It's not important Garion take a look at those tree's. Hey doesn't that one look interesting!?" Gray asked, panic in his voice. Garion didn't catch Gray's tone of voice and just gave the ice wizard a confused look.

"Somebody cut it off." Erza mumbled, drawing everyone's attention and shocking them all.

"At least give us time to find an antidote!" Gray snapped.

"I don't... have time..." Erza struggled to say.

"Very well." Lyon said, lifting the sword that Erza had slammed into the ground. "I will do it."

"How kind of you..." Sherry said in awe.

"Put down the sword!" Gray ordered.

"Do it!" Erza mumbled, her tone as equally as commanding as Gray's.

"NO DON'T!" Gray snapped.

"Um... Lyon... are you seriously gonna do it?" Lucy asked.

"We can't lose one of our strongest when facing such a powerful foe." Lyon said, his voice set and serious.

"B-But we can't cut off Erza's arm!" Garion complained, now feeling panicked.

"Oh come on! I can't believe we got stuck with you wimpy fairy's! Quit whining your friends gonna die if we don't do something to help her." Sherry said with disgust.

"Your friends gonna die if he doesn't put down that sword!" Lucy said threateningly to Sherry.

"Why is that? This is just his way of showing love..." Sherry muttered.

"Just hurry up and cut it off! Before the venom spreads to the rest of my body!" Erza ordered.

"Put the sword down!" Gray ordered again.

"Don't do it! You wanna be known as the guy who maimed Erza!?"Hibiki yelled.

"You don't have to do this! Stop, we can find a cure!" Eve pleaded. He started moving towards Lyon but was stopped by Jura, the massive wizard saint giving him a serious look.

"We have no right to interfere with her wishes." Jura said.

"Ready?" Lyon asked, raising the sword above his head. He brought it down a moment later, only for it to be blocked and break some of the ice that Gray had formed over his hand in order to block the blow that would sever Erza's arm. "Her arm is more important to you than her life?" Lyon questioned. "Where are your priorities?!" He demanded.

"This'll affect her for the rest of her life so we can't jump the gun! There's gotta be another way we can save her!" Gray rebuked, staring into Lyons eyes with a look which clearly showed he didn't plan on letting Lyon touch Erza.

"You're just as spineless as ever. Figures." Lyon said.

"I really thought you had changed, but your just as shady as ever." Gray retorted.

"Guys we really need to-" Garion started, extremely worried by the actions of everyone present. He was cut off when Erza let out a cry of pain before she passed out and collapsed.

"Erza!" Natsu said alarmingly.

"Oh no!" Lucy cried before she rushed forwards to the S-class wizard.

"We need to find a way to cure her!" Garion stated. "Otherwise..."

"We need Wendy, she could save your friend." Carla said, drawing everyone's attention. "This is no time for us to be bickering amongst ourselves. We need to work together to come up with a plan to rescue Wendy." She said. "And I suppose that tomcat too." The white furred Exceed added as an after thought.

"Wait so does Wendy have a magic that can heal Erza?" Garion asked. Carla nodded.

"Yes she does. And its not just anti-venom, she can cure fevers, relieve pain and heal wounds." The Exceed explained.

Ichiya looked extremely alarmed by this revelation and shot over to stand next to Carla. "Um excuse me but I feel as though my role in the group is being threatened and I find that rather unsettling!" The dwarf complained, albeit whilst striking a pose.

"That's crazy, everyone knows healing spells are lost magic. There's no way the kid could use them." Sherry said flatly.

A look of realization spread across Lucy's face "Do these powers have anything to do with the whole 'Maiden of the Sky' thing?" She asked.

"Yes it does!" Carla said, turning to look at Lucy. "You see that little girl is the Sky Dragon Slayer, she's Wendy the Sky Dragon!" The white furred Exceed exclaimed. To say Garion was shocked would be putting it mildly, his eyes were as wide as they could be and his jaw had nearly fallen off. This was shared by many of the other wizards, most of them were too flabbergasted by Carla's revelation to even say or do anything aside from gawk at the Exceed.

"She's a dragon slayer too!?" Natsu demanded.

"I'll give you all the details later. Although to be honest there's not much more you need to know." Carla said. She glanced over at Erza. "Wendy is the only wizard capable of saving your friend. We need her right now! Unfortunately the Oracion Seis feel they need her too for some unknown reason."

Garion felt a pang of guilt when the Seis was mentioned. His expression then became determined and serious. "Then I guess that means... there's only one thing we have to do... we have to rescue Wendy!" Garion said. Everyone gave an affirming nod to the young boy.

"We'll do it for Erza's sake!" Gray said.

"And Happy's too!" Lucy added.

"Okay! Are you with me?" Natsu demanded, raising his fist into the air as he did so.

"Yeah!" All the other wizards cheered in unison, raising their fists into the air as well. Garion had only one thought as the group cheered.

 _Wendy... Happy... just hang in there... we're coming._

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please leave a review telling me what you thought, Thanks for reading!**


	7. Rescuing the Sky Maiden

**Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites and I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Gaah!" Wendy and Happy cried as they landed on the hard stone floor of the cave. Brain towered over them, a sadistic grin on his face. He chuckled. Wendy grabbed her right shoulder as pain shot through it and she winced. Happy looked up and noticed the dark guild master looming over them and leapt to his feet.

"Hey don't be so rough! She's just a little girl you know!" The Exceed yelled defiantly, pointing his paw at the man towering over him.

"Happy..." Wendy said. A moment later Brain grabbed the tomcat, his hand clenched around his head. He lifted him into the air, Happy struggling as he did so. "Let him go!" Wendy cried fearfully, trying to have some courage. Brain responded by throwing Happy face first at the ground, the blue cat bouncing as he collided with the stone floor. He landed on his stomach and his eyes were spinning. "You're not hurt too bad are you?" Wendy asked, panic clear in her tone.

Happy looked up at her and forced himself up with one of his arms. "Nah, don't worry about me little lady. I'm gonna do my best to find us a way out of here, promise!" Happy said, fist clenched in determination.

"Thank you..." Wendy said softly before she wrapped her arms around Happy and pulled him into a hug. The rest of the Seis were looking at the pair with slight confusion, except for Cobra, who was clutching his temple.

"Damn kid..." He muttered, massaging the sides of his head. Racer turned his head to look at Cobra, a small frown on his face.

"Okay Cobra, what's the deal? You've been acting like that since the fight." Racer said. The snake wizard looked at the other member of the Seis and grunted.

"It's that kid. Garion." Cobra explained, almost spitting the boys name.

"What about him? Does he have a way to defend against your hearing magic or something?" Racer asked.

"If you count a mind so bloody pure it makes me feel sick just thinking about it then sure, he has a way to block my magic." Cobra said as he lowered his arm. "I've listened in on my fair share of people's thoughts, but I've never found one with a mind as pure as that kid. How good and kind he is... makes me wanna hurl. If nothing else, I wanna punch that kid in the face for giving me a headache."

"No." Angel said, intervening in the conversation. "He is mine to deal with. He dares to imitate an angel, and I will punish him for it." She said coldly.

Racer studied Cobra and Angel for a few seconds then shrugged. "Fine by me. Anyway what's the deal with this girl? Why's she so important?" The slowing magic wizard asked, returning to business.

"Does she have something to do with Nirvana?" Cobra asked, reaching up again to massage his temples.

"She doesn't seem all that special to me." Angel commented.

"Is she worth money?" Hoteye asked, slamming his fist into his palm. "You're gonna sell her to the highest bidder right? Oh yeah!" The earth wizard declared enthusiastically.

"You realise that cash isn't the answer to everything..." Cobra pointed out.

"Well I think it is because money can buy everything even love!" Hoteye declared cheerfully.

"Ah give me a break!" Cobra said, sounding exasperated.

Brain, whilst amused by his guild mates antics, decided to fill them in. "She uses what's called sky magic. It gives her the power to heal others." The dark wizard explained.

"Hows that even possible?" Racer demanded.

"Isn't it a lost magic?" Angel asked incredulously.

"One of many practices forgotten long ago... ugh..." Cobra said, and then grunted again, pain jolting through his head again, but now it was significantly less painful than the last one, but still enough to annoy him. _Bloody kid... I am definitely punching him in the face next time I see him. Then I'll poison him and leave him for dead, see how he likes constant pain._

"Oh yeah, I can practically smell the money!" Hoteye said, enthusiasm filling him, whilst Midnight snored in the background, clearly enjoying his nap.

"Heh... what good is a healer to us?" Cobra asked. His eyes then widened as he realised what Brain was doing. "Wait... you don't mean...!" The snake wizard trailed off. Brain raised his arms into the air.

"She is the key! With her power, we shall revive him!" Brain declared.

"Who are you talking about!?" Happy demanded, glaring at the dark wizards.

"Look..." Wendy started. "... if you're asking me to help you, forget it!" She declared defiantly. "I'd never do anything for jerks like you!"

Brain smirked. "Yes you will. There's no doubt." he said. Wendy glared at him and he felt a twinge of amusement at the girls attempts to defy him. "Once you find out who it is you'll be more than happy to help." The dark wizard said, causing Wendy's face to change from a look of defiance to one of confusion. "Racer, bring him to me at once." He ordered.

"Will do boss. But it's so far it'll take me an hour to get there and back." Racer said.

"No matter." Brain said, returning his gaze to Wendy. Cobra smirked as he finally caught on fully to Brain's plan.

"I see... once he's revived... we'll be able to find Nirvana in no time! You're doing your name proud sir." Cobra said, a hint of admiration in his voice.

"Cobra. Hoteye. Angel. I want you to continue the search for Nirvana." Brain ordered.

"But why?" Angel asked, a smirk spreading across her face. "It's a waste of time. We should begin the search after he's been revived..."

"Come on! You guys just tell us who you're trying to bring back!" Happy demanded loudly. Obviously he was ignored.

"I would prefer to air on the side of caution. Midnight and I will remain here." Brain explained.

Hoteye gave Midnight a somewhat disapproving look. "Something tells me he won't make very good company." The earth wizard remarked.

"All right you guys, guess we better get going." Cobra remarked, lazily stroking Cubellious' neck as he spoke.

"You boys wanna race me?" Angel challenged, her smirk spreading further. "Who ever's the first to find Nirvana wins a prize-"

"In the amount of one million jewel!" Hoteye declared enthusiastically, a grin spreading across his face as he stood up. "Oh yeah! Count me in!"

"Don't you think a millions a bit much?" Angel asked, unamused by Hoteye's antics.

Whilst the dark wizards were distracted, Happy took an opportunity to talk to Wendy. "Be honest with me... you don't have any idea what these creeps are talking about do ya?" He asked.

"Um... well no." Wendy replied, looking at the Exceed. "Not really..." She then paused before turning her head to look at Brain. "What does Nirvana do? Please tell us that much!" She asked. Brain turned and grinned wickedly at her, a glint in his eyes.

"It's incredibly powerful. It swaps light for darkness!" He stated. Wendy and Happy's stomachs dropped and fear spread through their bodies.

"But I don't understand..." Wendy said.

"Me neither... it doesn't make any sense!" Happy added. His eyes then widened. _Wait a second... if it swaps light for dark... what kind of effect is it going to have on Garion!?_ He thought, now incredibly worried about that idea.

* * *

* _Elsewhere in the Worth Woodsea*_

"So if she's a sky dragon slayer... what does she eat for power?" Natsu asked, directing the question towards Carla. To Carla's ear left was Gray and to her forward left was Garion. The sandy haired boy was keeping his magical sense alert and intently searching for Wendy and Happy's magical signatures. He still felt bad about not being able to keep his promise, and thus he was searching as far and wide as he possibly could. The group was running (in Carla's case flying) through the forest.

"Air of course!" Carla said, responding to Natsus' question.

"Does it taste any good?" Natsu asked, wondering what air would taste like.

"I don't know..." Carla admitted. A small sweat drop formed on the back of Gray's head.

"I don't see how that's any different from breathing..." The ice wizard muttered.

"It sounds really cool..." Garion commented. He then frowned. "Wait... so does that mean she never runs out of power?" He asked.

"Not quite. Whilst it may seem that way, there is only so much air she can consume at once. And if the air isn't clean then she doesn't recover as quickly and might even end up getting weaker instead." Carla explained.

"Guess that makes sense..." Gray murmured, not entirely sure of Carla's explanation.

"You know the only reason she applied for this mission was because she wanted to get the chance to meet you." Carla said, referring to Natsu.

"Why me?" Natsu asked, turning his head to look at Carla.

"Because you're a fellow dragon slayer. There's something she wanted to ask you about." Carla stated.

"Did she tell you?" Natsu asked, his eyes slightly wide.

"Yes. Apparently the dragon who taught her dragon slayer magic mysteriously disappeared seven years ago." Carla explained. "She was hoping that you might be able to tell her its whereabouts."

"I need more info... what's the dragons name?" Natsu asked.

"I believe Wendy called her the Sky Dragon Grandeeney." Carla said.

"Grandeeney... nice name..." Garion said without thinking.

"Sky Dragon Grand-" Natsu started saying.

"WAIT!" Garion yelled, suddenly stopping. Natsu, Gray and Carla all stopped and turned to look at the boy. Gray and Natsu had serious looks on their faces and Carla looked indignant.

"We can't be stopping now we need to-" The white furred Exceed started saying but she was cut off by Gray.

"Bad guys?" Gray asked. Garion nodded.

"A whole bunch and getting close." The boy replied with. He started walking forwards "And then there's... that..." The dual element wizard raised his right arm and pointed at a group of nearby trees which were completely black and surrounded by a strange, dark fog.

"What's happened here?!" Carla demanded, her eyes wide from shock.

"I don't know... but it feels... _wrong._ " Garion said, looking at the trees with a horrified and shocked expression.

"The trees... they're black..." Gray muttered, shocked at what he was seeing, yet alert for any nearby enemies as per Garion's earlier warning.

"Oh man that's creepy!" Natsu commented, looking thoroughly creeped out by the trees.

Garion's eyes widened even more as he felt a large number of magical signatures start moving in around them. "Guys!" He snapped, drawing everyone's attention. "We've got wizards coming in from all around us." the young wizard said, informing them all of the approaching dark guilds members. Natsu and Gray nodded and prepared for action.

"Word on the street is it's caused by Nirvana ain't that right Big Bro Zato?" A tall, monkey looking man said as he emerged from the trees, his voice low and sounding perpetually bored.

"Oh yeah!" 'Big Bro Zato' replied with. Garion frowned as he saw the two, their appearance and the way they talked confused him. "Magic so powerful the planet can't take it. Everything it touches wither's up and dies Big Bro." The afro'd man said. The entire Naked Mummy dark guild was gathered in the trees around the members of the allied forces.

"Oh dear! This is bad, they've got us surrounded!" Carla exclaimed.

"Word on the street is its caused by Nirvana-" Gato started saying before Zato cut him off.

"Would you stop repeating yourself Big Bro Gato?" Zato asked.

"Oh man I didn't even notice Big Bro Zato." Gato replied in his usual dull voice.

"Whoo awesome!" Natsu said excitedly, raising his right fist. "Those two have gotta be the dumbest monkeys I've ever seen!" The fire dragon slayer said, doing a monkey impression as he did so.

"Arrgh! You blockheads are all member of the Fairy Tail guild!" One of the Naked mummy members said, pointing his finger angrily at Natsu and Gray. "You're friends with that blond girl!"

"Oh... I remember 'em now. Their friends with that girl who ruined our plans in Icallifie ain't they?" Gato asked.

"Ohhh! That one there is an angry monkey!" Natsu taunted. Garion gave him a confused look.

"Don't go messing with Naked Mummy! We're with the Oracion Seis!" Gato said, raising his fist.

"That's right! You got a death wish pal?" Zato asked, raising his fist and coating it in a field of purplish-red magic.

"What's this Naked Mummy business?" Natsu asked seriously.

"Are you seriously that stupid? They're the dark guild Lucy told us about the other day." Gray said.

"It was a trap! They tricked us into thinking we'd be facing six wizards!" Carla said, looking around in shock.

"Well I say the more the merrier!" Gray said, summoning ice around his right hand.

"No kidding, bring on the monkeys!" Natsu said, now going overboard with the monkey impersonation.

"What in the world has gotten into you two!? We should run while we-" Carla started.

" **DARKNESS WAVE**!" Garion yelled, blasting at least a quarter of the Naked Mummy members away with a single massive wave of darkness magic. Carla went wide eyed when she saw just how many members of the dark guild he had knocked out with a single attack.

"...have the chance..." Carla finished slowly, her previous annoyance gone and now replaced with disbelief and shock. She looked at Garion and her eyes widened even further when she saw the determined look on his face. The dual element wizard was breathing deeper than usual, and his breaths were much longer as well.

"Garion!" Gray and Natsu snapped, whirling around to look at the young wizard. "It's rude to start fighting without us! And especially to take out so many of the bad guys on your own!" The duo whined. Garion looked at them.

"We're wasting time guys, we need to hurry up and find Wendy and Happy!" He shot back, and there was almost a note of panic in his voice. "So lets hurry up and get going!"

"Fine by me. Maybe we can beat where their hiding Happy and Wendy out of 'em!"Natsu said. He then started spinning his right arm, his fist coated in fire. "So where are you hiding 'em eh?" He asked.

Gato and Zato were giving Garion incredulous looks which were mixed with a bit of fear. "Y-You think a little fire and darkness is gonna scare us boy?" Zato demanded, but he couldn't keep the shock out of his voice.

"Don't go messing with Naked Mummy! We're with the Oracion Seis!" Gato said, again.

"You already said that dummy!" Natsu yelled.

"H-huh, this is the end of the line for you Fairies!" Zato said, trying to sound confident but obviously still shocked by Garion's earlier attack. The remainder of the Naked Mummy guild gathered around the three Fairy Tail wizards and the Exceed, most of them looking ready to fight but quite a few looked unsure. Garion began gathering his magic again and a lot of the dark wizards flinched.

"I'm beginning to think these Fairy Tail wizards are completely insane." Carla said, but she only half believed her own words. "Do they honestly think they stand a chance against what's left of this guild!?" She asked.

"It doesn't matter if we do or don't, what matters is we need to defeat them so we can rescue Wendy and Happy!" Garion said, his voice filled with determination. Carla looked at the boy, and then something clicked. _Whereas the other two are most likely more interested in fighting, he's more interested in finding Wendy._ The Exceed thought .. _and the tomcat._ She added as an after thought. _That must be why he took so many of them out with that attack, he wants to get this over with as quickly as possible._ She concluded. She then made a decision that perhaps Garion wasn't as insane as Natsu and Gray.

Without warning the members of Naked Mummy charged towards the Fairy Tail wizards. Carla activated her Aera magic and flew up above the battlefield, not wishing to be involved. Natsu opened up by blasting a large group of the dark wizards away by punching the ground with a fire coated fist. Gray charged forwards and slammed his hands into the ground, knocking up a large group of Naked Mummy members with an ice geyser. Garion released another wave of darkness magic, blasting several enemies out of a tree. He then switched to his light magic and casted 2 rains of light, incapacitating several more dark wizards.

"They're a lot tougher than they look." Gato said as he watched the three Fairy Tail wizards tear his guild apart. "What do you think we should do?" he asked.

"I thought we already talked about this." Zato replied. "Or didn't we Bro?" He asked.

"But they're a lot tougher than they look aren't they?" Gato asked again.

"Yeah, but we can beat 'em Big Bro Gato." Zato said. The two charged into the fight, eager to defeat the Fairy Tail wizards.

* * *

 _*Oracion Seis temporary head quarters*_

"Jellal...?" Wendy asked in a quiet voice, disbelief filling her. "I don't understand..." She and Happy currently stood in front of the 'coffin' that the former wizard saint was in, and the sky dragon slayer could barely believe that the man from her childhood was unconscious before her. Racer had recently returned carrying the container that Jellal was in, as per Brain's orders. The dark wizard guild master had then opened it up, revealing just who was inside, shocking the sky maiden and Exceed.

"That guy is bad news!" Happy said, angry and shocked at the same time. "What's he doing here?"

Wendy's eyes widened in alarm and she looked at Happy. "What are you talking about do you know him too?" She asked.

"It's not like we're friends! He tried to kill me, Erza and a bunch of other people! He's the one who got the magic council to fire the Etherion Cannon!" Happy explained angrily. Wendy bowed her head slightly, her hair casting a shadow over her face.

"I know..." She said quietly. "I heard about that..."

"But I thought Jellal was ancient history!" Happy yelled, taking a step forward.

"He is indeed." Brain admitted. "A shell haunted by a restless ghost. Full of miserable ideals." A grin then spread across the dark wizards face. "But also a man who's given you the greatest gift."

"What? He did?" Happy asked. He looked up at Wendy. "What does that mean?"

"This is your opportunity to return the favour and revive him!" Brain said, yet it sounded like he almost was making a demand.

"Don't do it!" Happy quickly said. "No matter what this guy says don't wake him up!" He said. Wendy started shaking, a shadow still cast over her eyes. "Please don't do it." Happy pleaded. The sky dragon slayer didn't reply, she just kept her gaze fixed to the floor. "You can't!" The Exceed shouted. They both heard the sound of a knife being removed from its sheath, and looked up to see Brain brandishing a knife in his free hand.

"So are you refusing?" Brain questioned, moving the knife threateningly towards Jellal's unconscious form.

"No please stop!" Wendy pleaded. Brain slammed the knife into the coffin a mere inch from Jellal's neck. Wendy collapsed to her knees. "Please... I beg you..." She squeaked. Brain let go of the knife and raised his hand, blasting the area just next to where Wendy was with his magic, knocking the girl onto her side.

"Revive him." Brain ordered. "You have the power to do so."

"NO that's the last thing you wanna do! They're planning to use him to steal Nirvana!" Happy yelled, doing his best to try and persuade Wendy to change her mind.

"But I have to repay him..." Wendy said, her voice starting to break up. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him..." Tears started running down her face, and she was on the verge of full on crying. She was feeling disbelief, shock and sadness, all at the same time. "He was so kind to me..." the sky dragon slayer choked out. For a while she said nothing, she simply let the tears roll down her face. "I've heard all those horrible stories about what he did..." Wendy forced herself to her feet. "But I don't believe them!" She said defiantly.

"I swear they're true. I was there, I saw it!" Happy explained.

"He's not the kind of person who could do that!" Wendy snapped, her conflicting emotions raging through her mind and body.

"But he did Wendy..." Happy said softly, giving the dragon slayer a sympathetic look.

"Please just... just give me a little time to think about it." Wendy pleaded.

"Why? Tell him no!" Happy yelled. Brain studied the girl for a few moments before he smiled.

"Very well." he said. "You have five minutes."

 _Natsu... I hope you're on your way... we really need you right now!_ Happy thought.

* * *

Natsu and Gray both let out exhausted breaths and grunts. The entirety of the Naked Mummy guild lay unconscious or semi-unconscious around them. Garion was barely able to stand where he was on the other side of the clearing, about twice as exhausted as the other two, as he'd been using the most magic. "Ah man that was a work out. Not as easy as I'd like but still not that hard." Natsu said.

"They put up one heck of a fight for sure." Gray said. Overall the fight had been relatively medium difficulty for the ice wizard and dragon slayer, but for Garion it had been much harder. He'd practically gone all out to try and finish the battle as quickly as he could, using up most of his magic and leaving him exhausted. He had his wings out to help speed up his recover, something he'd figured out after the Battle of Fairy Tail.

"What kind of idiot thinks taking on an entire guild would be a walk in the park? You were out numbered twenty to one at least!" Carla exclaimed, having landed once the fighting had concluded. Natsu and Gray ignored her, but Garion felt a bit sheepish. It had been a bit of a dumb idea, but they hadn't really had a choice.

"I... yeah... I guess... but we did win... that's at least good right?" He asked. Carla just rolled her eyes at the dual element wizard, not saying anything.

"ALRIGHT you big dumb ape!" Natsu said, lifting Zato by the collar. "Tell us where you're guys hide out is!" He demanded.

"I ain't telling you squat." Zato replied, a grin on his face. He then started laughing and Natsu then head butted him out of annoyance. He then moved onto Gato.

"How about you?!" Natsu demanded as he lifted Gato up, shouting straight into the man's face.

"These boys are so reckless!" Carla said. Garion looked at her and scratched the back of his head, a sheepish smile on his face for a few moments.

"Yeah... sorry... I didn't like it but... it was the quickest way to-" The young boy stopped and his eyes widened. He spun around, head snapping back and forth. Before Carla could ask, he yelled. "I've found her!" He exclaimed cheerfully. "She's that way!" The dual element wizard said, pointing off seemingly at random into the forest. Gray and Natsu whirled around to look at him, and then they both grinned.

"Nice to see your as good as ever Garion." Gray complimented. Garion chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"Thanks... and I'm not that good..." He said.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get moving!" Carla said, summoning her wings. Garion nodded in reply and summoned his as well.

"And where do you think you're going, you pesky little flies?" A voice asked from above the group, prompting them all to look up. Erigor smirked at the group. "I've been sent to come swat you all down, and I don't intend on letting you get away, you pesky insects." he said with contempt.

"No!" Gray said, his expression changing to one of shock.

"Not this guy again!" Natsu added, equally as shocked. Suddenly he raised his arm and a friendly smile spread across his face. "Hey! What's going on cool breeze? Long time no see! How ya been man?" The fire dragon slayer asked in a friendly voice. Erigor just stared at Natsu, unable to actually comprehend what Natsu had just said. Gray just dead panned.

"What!?" Erigor demanded incredulously. "We're enemies you fool!"

"Are you that dense?" Gray asked. "He was behind the plot to take out gramps and the rest of the guild masters with the Lullaby flute remember?"

"Oh yeah!" Natsu said in realization. "He's that windbag I roasted on that bridge right? Talk about a jerk." Garion looked between Natsu and Gray and frowned. _Lullaby? What's that?_ He wondered.

"After the fall of the Eisenwald guild, I used my expertise as an enforcer in the service of the Oracion Seis." Erigor explained, now floating in the air in front of the group. "Biding my time until now. The day I would finally have my revenge! The day Erigor the reaper would rise again!"

"So you've come here looking for a rematch is that it?" Gray asked.

"That sounds like fun to me." Natsu said, slamming his fist into his palm, a grin on his face.

"What?" Carla asked, a small sweat drop on the back of her head. "Those two knuckle-heads are going to fight again? Reckless doesn't even begin to describe it." She commented from her position next to Garion.

"Guys!" Garion cried, drawing the attention of Natsu, Gray and Erigor. "We have to hurry up and rescue Wendy! We can't waste any more time!" He pleaded. The dual element wizard was now extremely worried about Wendy's well being, as he could sense that there was a very powerful magical signature extremely close to her, which he guessed was probably Brain.

 _"But of course, you're parents had to get in the way."_ Brain's words echoed in the boys mind. _"... they paid for it in the end..."_ The dual element wizard felt a wave of confusion and sadness wash over him. _W-What did he mean!? A-And why was he interested in m-me?_ Garion had no memories of his parents, in fact he had no idea what they even looked like. Makarov had told him a little, most pointedly that Garion looked a lot like his father, but had the heart of his mother. Strangely enough, the wizard saint had refused to reveal any more than that about them, and the guild master had then gone on to say that he would explain everything when Garion was older.

Garion had been both sad and angry about it, but Makarov had promised to explained everything "When the time is right my boy." Those had been his exact words.

"Sorry, but I'm gonna make this quick! I need to kick your butt fast so I can go and rescue my friends!" Natsu declared before charging forwards, snapping Garion out of his thoughts. Erigor smirked and summoned his magic.

"Not a chance, fly!" He declared before he sent a massive wave of wind towards the fire dragon slayer.

"Ice make: Shield!" Gray yelled, slamming his hands into the ground and creating a wall of ice in front of him, Garion and Carla. The wind buffeted and battered Natsu, but much to Erigor's shock he managed to not only stay on his feet but launch himself off the ground towards Erigor.

"Fire dragon's..."

Erigor's eyes widened and he quickly flew higher into the air to dodge the fire dragon slayers' attack. A smirk formed on his face "Is that the best you can do fly?" He taunted as Natsu passed harmlessly under him. His smirk crumbled when Natsu did a forward roll, landed on his feet, and launched himself into the air towards the wind wizard at high speed, fist cocked back and coated in flame.

"Iron fist!" Natsu finished, hurling the punch at Erigor. The dark wizard was barely able to raise his hand and summon his magic in time to block the attack, and he grunted when the dragon slayers attack connected. Fire spurted out in all directions around the two along with wind. However he wasn't able to keep the stalemate up for long, and sweat ran down his face as he struggled to hold Natsu at bay.

"Fire dragon's talon!" Natsu yelled, delivering a powerful kick to Erigors chest which sent him flying through the air. The fire dragon slayer landed on the ground and looked up at Erigor.

"I see you've stepped up your game little fly!" Erigor said, his voice sounding a little shaky.

"Glad you noticed." Natsu said, surrounding his body in flames as he did so. "But like I said, I don't have time to chat!" He yelled, holding his hands at his side and gathering his magic around them.

"Do you think you can defeat me!?" He demanded, charging towards Natsu. Gathering all his magic, he reared his arms back before he clapped his hands together. "Magic Wind Palm!" He roared, sending the swirling currents of air towards Natsu. The attack struck the ground and caused the ground to shatter and a massive dust cloud to be kicked up. Bits of earth flew out of the cloud, but before Erigor could do anything Natsu flew out of the dust.

"Dragon slayer secret art! Crimson lotus: FIRE DRAGON'S FIST!" Natsu roared as he rained a continuous barrage of flame coated punches on Erigor, his speed increasing with each passing second. With one final powerful punch he sent the wind wizard hurtling off into the forest. The dragon slayer landed and looked at the other wizards and Exceed.

"Which way is it Garion?" He asked. The dual element wizard pointed off into the forest.

"We have to hurry!" The boy said. The eyes of everyone present widened in shock, but it was Carla who snapped them out of it.

"Well then don't dilly dally we have to hurry!" She snapped, summoning her Aera and floating into the air. Gray, Natsu and Garion all nodded. She looked at Garion. "Lead the way." she ordered. The dual element wizard nodded again, and turned to run off into the forest. Garion had one main thought in his mind as they moved to where Wendy and Happy were.

 _Wendy... please be all right!_

* * *

"Here!" Garion called out as they reached a massive hole in the ground. The group stopped by the edge and looked down into the hole. Garion frowned slightly when he saw the small huts that were present on the central island, and he looked at the waterfalls as he searched for where Wendy was. His eyes fell upon a cave entrance on the other side of the hole. But before he could say anything, Natsu spoke.

"HAPPY? WENDY?" The dragon slayer yelled, his voice echoing around the hole. A tick mark appeared on Carla's forehead.

"Hey! Quiet!" She whispered angrily. "Our enemy is hiding down there you buffoon!" The Exceed snapped.

 _*Oracion Seis temporary headquarters*_

 _"HAPPY? WENDY?"_ Natsu's shout echoed through the cave. Hope surged within Happy, his tail suddenly sticking up.

"Natsu!" He declared in a relieved voice, glad that help had finally arrived.

"Racer. Intercept them!" Brain commanded. Racer stopped leaning on the wall of the cave and smirked.

"Gladly boss." He answered before he vanished. Brain narrowed his eyes once Racer had left.

"Miserable fools." He muttered.

 _*Edge of the hole*_

Garion's eyes widened. "LOOK OUT!" He cried. Before anyone could react however, Racer appeared in the middle of the group, knocking them all flying. Garion managed to land on his feet and looked at the slowing wizard.

"What's this guy doing here!?" Natsu demanded. Garion glanced back at the hole. _I could try and get down there and get Wendy and Happy... but their guild master is down there... and someone else..._ He looked at Racer. As if predicting what Garion would do, the dark wizard vanished and an instant later Garion cried out in pain as a foot slammed into his stomach, sending him crashing and skidding across the ground.

"Still too slow kid!" Racer taunted. He then vanished and reappeared on a high branch of a nearby tree.

 _*Back in the cave*_

"Times up." Brain said. Wendy clenched her jaw, a bead of sweat running down the side of her face.

"Please don't do it Wendy!" Happy pleaded. Brain glared at him and a moment later blasted him with his magic, sending him flying into the wall. The Exceed cried out in pain as he collided with the wall, and he flopped to the ground afterwards.

"Look... your magic... can bring him back!" Brain declared. "So... will you help your friend or leave him like this?" The dark wizard demanded. Wendy didn't reply, a shadow cast over here eyes from her hair. "You must!" The dark guild master snapped, his patience with the sky maiden started to wear thin.

"Jellal..." Wendy muttered, indecision racking her body.

* _Back outside*_

"I can handle this dude. You two need to get down there and help them." Gray said to Natsu and Garion.

"Got it." Natsu replied.

"Aye." Garion said. Racer smirked as the two other wizards turned away and vanished.

"You'll stay right here!" He declared as he moved downwards. He then slipped and landed rear end first on the ground due to a wall of Ice Gray had made.

"Bust out your wings, come on!" Natsu said, looking at Carla. He then sweat dropped when he saw that she was still dazed from Racer's attack. Before the fire dragon slayer could say or do anything, he was suddenly lifted into the air. Blinking in confusion, he turned his head from side to side several times to see who was carrying him.

"Grab Carla!" A voice said from directly next to his ear. Without thinking Natsu complied and grabbed the Exceed as they flew past. He then realised who was carrying him.

"Garion!?" Natsu asked incredulously. "You know you aren't strong enough to carry me for long!"

"I know." Garion grunted. "But I can carry you to the bottom of the hole, and that's all that matters right now!" He said. Carla snapped out of her daze halfway down and managed to activate her Aera magic and fly by herself, allowing her to reach the bottom of the hole easily. As for Garion and Natsu...

...They crash landed.

Hard.

"Ow..." Garion said as he reached up to rub the top of his head. Natsu stood up and shook himself quickly.

"Man that kinda hurt..." He muttered.

"Well perhaps next time use a safer method to get down!" Carla snapped. Garion winced and lowered his head.

"Sorry..." He muttered. His head then snapped up and he looked around. His eyes settled on the cave entrance. "There! They are in there!" He exclaimed, pointing at the cave where he could sense Wendy. Natsu assumed a determined expression and Carla nodded. The three ran over to where the dual element wizard had pointed, and Garion's eyes widened as he felt not only Wendy's magic power drop, but _another_ powerful magical signature suddenly appear as if from nowhere. When the three reached the entrance to the cave, they stopped, shock covering their faces.

"No..." Natsu muttered, eyes wide from shock and sweat present on his face.

"What?" Carla said, equally as shocked.

"W-Who's... that?" Garion asked.

Before them, Wendy was on her knees near the top of the T shaped coffin, Brain was standing near the base of the coffin, and between the two a blue haired man stood, his back to the cave entrance. Whilst Garion and Carla were confused, Natsu was downright shocked.

"But how?" The fire dragon slayer asked, barely able to believe what he was seeing.

"Natsu..." Happy whined from his location on the floor. Brain glanced over his shoulder at the trio standing in the entrance and he smirked.

"I'm so sorry!" Wendy choked out, her shoulder violently shaking. "Forgive me!" Her shaking grew worse and Garion stared at her in shock. Guilt then ran rampant through him, even worse than it was running through Wendy.

"Jellal..." Natsu hissed angrily. Wendy started rubbing her eyes as she cried.

"Sorry! Sorry!" She cried between sobs, reaching up to wipe away her tears. Garion's heart was twisting in his chest from guilt. "But I had to..." Wendy said, looking up at Jellal. "I owe him..."

"Wendy!" Carla snapped. "You used your healing magic on him? What were you thinking you know what that does to you!" The Exceed cried. Wendy suddenly collapsed to the floor. "WENDY!" Garion and Carla cried out in panic. Jellal turned his head to look at the sky maiden.

"I don't know why you're here or where you came from!" Natsu gritted his teeth in anger before coating his fist in fire and charging towards Jellal. "BUT YOU DON'T BELONG HERE!" He roared. In response, the former wizard saint looked at him with an indifferent expression before blasting the fire dragon slayer into a wall with his magic, which crumbled and covered him in rubble as he collided with it.

"Natsu no!" Happy cried out in worry. Brain walked up next to Jellal, a smirk on his face.

"Thankfully your condition hasn't diminished your power." The dark wizard commented. In reply, Jellal turned to look at him and with a wave of his arm caused Brain to fall through the floor. He then turned around and started walking towards the entrance, but stopped when he reached Garion and looked at the boy with a blank expression. The dual element wizard tensed up and looked back at the blue haired man.

Whether if it was because Jellal didn't regard him as a threat or if it was because he simply had no interest in the boy, the blue haired man walked past Garion without saying a word. As he did, Garion shot over to where Wendy was, kneeling next to her unconscious form. He felt a massive stab of guilt when he saw the tear tracks on the girls face and he tilted his head down, his hair casting a shadow over his eyes.

 _... this is all my fault._ He balled his hands into fists. _I made a promise... and I couldn't keep it! And because of it..._ He looked at Wendy's face. _...Wendy had to suffer. Wendy... she cried... I... I... I failed. I failed her... I couldn't keep my promise..._

"I'm aware that the two of you have some kind of history but our first priority needs to be taking Wendy back to the others as soon as possible." Carla stated. Natsu growled in response. "You do want to save your friend don't you?" The Exceed asked. Natsu looked at Carla, realisation spreading across his face.

"Come on..." Happy said.

"MAN I HATE THAT GUY!" Natsu roared angrily. "But you're right. Lets go kay?"

"Aye sir!" Happy said. Garion stood up.

"Yeah. Lets go." He said, his voice strained. Natsu and Happy looked at him and blinked before their eyes widened slightly. Carla frowned at the boy but said nothing. _What's with this behaviour?_ She wondered. She then grabbed Wendy's unconscious form and the 5 of them flew out of the cave. They rose higher and higher into the air, and Garion remained silent. Carla watched him and then glanced at Happy and Natsu.

The two had concerned looks on their faces as they watched the young boy. She frowned and made a mental note to find the source of this odd behaviour later.

The group reached the trees on the edges of the hole, and Garion seemed to be so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice Racer until it was too late. With a yelp of surprise, Garion was snapped out of his thoughts as he was sent flying towards the ground. He managed to straighten himself out and he looked around in alarm. His eyes widened when he saw Wendy falling and without even thinking shot forwards as fast as he could and grabbed Wendy, unconsciously holding the girl very protectively. He landed and spun around, noticing that Carla and Happy were down for the count.

"Garion!" Natsu yelled, drawing the attention of the boy. "Good, you've got Wendy. Now lets get back to the others!" He said. Garion nodded and adjusted how he was holding Wendy, he was now carrying her bridal style. Natsu picked up Happy and Carla and took off, one under each arm, with Garion following closely behind.

"I told you its the end of the line!" Racer yelled as he charged after the two.

"Ice make: Rampart!" Gray declared, spreading his arms out and creating a massive wall of ice that Racer went head first into and bounced off. Natsu stopped and turned around.

"Got him?" He asked.

"Hurry!" Gray said, his breathing now much heavier than it was before and sweat running down his face. "I said... I can handle this guy by myself!"

"Come on Natsu!" Garion said, drawing the attention of the dragon slayer. "We have to go! Gray can handle it! We have to hurry, Erza doesn't have much time left!"

"He's right Natsu, I got this guy. Now..." Gray took a deep breath. "... hurry and save Erza!" Natsu's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, and he looked at Gray for a few moments.

"AGGH FINE!" He finally said before turning around and running off, Garion following closely behind. "But once we heal Erza we're coming back for you, got it?" The fire dragon slayer shouted back.

"Yeah... I got it..." Gray said with a smile as the two ran off. He then prepared himself for the battle with Racer.

* _Later, elsewhere in the forest_ _*_

Garion and Natsu were running as fast as they could manage through the forest, Garion in the lead and Natsu trailing behind. Garion would fly, but he didn't want to get ahead of Natsu, plus he would need to conserve his strength, although considering how light Wendy was, he doubted he would have any trouble flying whilst carrying her. He had located Hibiki's and Lucy's magical signatures not too long ago, and thus was in the lead.

He glanced down at the sleeping girl in his arms, a pang of guilt running through him as he remembered that it was his fault she was in this state. As he looked at the girl, he looked specifically at her face. One would hardly be able to tell that she'd been crying a few minutes ago, as she lacked any visible tears or tear marks on her face, and she looked, oddly enough, peaceful.

Garion felt yet another wave of guilt wash through him and looked ahead again. _This is all my fault..._ He thought again. His gaze unconsciously drifted back onto Wendy's face after several moments, and the guilt in his heart seemed to fade slightly. He then looked away, and unconsciously tightened his grip on Wendy. _...all of it..._

"Natsu... where are we?" Garion heard from behind.

"No talkin', you gotta try rest up alright?" Natsu ordered in a kind voice.

"But Jellal is out there somewhere..." Happy said, his voice filled with worry. Natsu growled slightly.

"Yeah I know. But don't you worry, I'm gonna make sure he doesn't stick around long." The fire dragon slayer growled. Garion glanced back and frowned slightly. He opened his mouth to speak but then suddenly Natsu screeched to a halt and started looking around, confusion on his face. "What the heck?" He asked.

Garion also screeched to a halt, and gave Natsu a confused look. "What's wrong? Why'd you stop?" He and Happy asked in unison, the little tomcat looking up from his position under Natsu's arm. Natsu stopped looking around and looked at the tree to his right, surprise written across his face.

"This tree is talkin' to me!" He exclaimed, staring at the tree. The dragon slayer stared at it for several more moments before muttering. "Yes great tree." His voice sounding mesmerised. Happy and Garion blinked as they looked at Natsu.

"Natsu? What's going on?" The dual element wizard asked, slightly alarmed by the current situation. He shifted Wendy slightly in his arms as he spoke, making sure that she wasn't about to fall.

"Quiet, the tree speaks to me." Natsu said mysteriously. He then frowned. "You're a ventriloquist?" He asked out loud. He then scowled slightly and looked as though he was listening to something intently. "Yeah Garion's here." Natsu blurted out. He then frowned again. "Whadda mean ya' can't speak to him? He's right next to me." The dragon slayer then looked at Garion. "That one guy from Blue Pegasus is talkin' into my head." He then scowled. "Not sure how that works."

 _"-rion can you hear me?"_ HIbiki's voice echoed inside Garions' mind. The boy blinked and looked around.

"Uh... yeah?" He said, not sounding sure.

 _"Thank goodness. I had some trouble connecting to your mind for some reason. What's your status? Have you found Wendy and the Cat?"_ Hibiki asked. Garion looked down at Wendy and nodded.

"Yeah. Wendy's unconscious but Happy's awake. Carla's out as well, but they're fine." Garion supplied.

"I've got Happy and Carla." Natsu chipped in.

 _"That's wonderful! Now hang tight, I'm gonna upload a map into your minds, It'll lead you straight to the temporary camp we've-"_

"No need great tre-I mean Hibiki. Garion knows where you guys are." Natsu interrupted. "And stay outta my head!" He added.

" _What?"_ Hibiki asked, sounding confused. _"How does he know where the camp is?"_

"He can sense magic power, and he's pretty good at it too." Natsu offered Garion a grin. "Ain't that right?"

"Umm... y-yeah I guess..." Garion stammered, feeling uncomfortable about Natsu's praise.

"So keep your map, we'll be there soon." Natsu said, slightly wary of the idea of having things uploaded into his mind.

 _"Got it. Please, be careful, and hurry. I'm afraid we don't have the luxury of time right now."_ Hibiki said, sounding both annoyed, relieved and worried at the same time. Natsu and Garion looked at each other and nodded before taking off into the forest again, with Happy silently shaking his head. _Looks like Garion's gone off the rails too..._

At the base camp, Hibiki watched the two dots, one with an angry looking Natsu face next to it and the other with a smiling Garion face, as they moved towards the base camp. He then turned away from the magical interface in front of him with a frown on his face and looked at Lucy, who was leaning over the still unconscious Erza. _He can sense our location from where he is?_ Hibiki wondered. _I've never met anyone with a magical sense that good before..._ Looking at the celestial wizard sitting nearby, he decided to sate his curiosity.

"How much do you know about Garion?" He asked. Lucy turned to look at him, a frown on her face.

"Not a lot." She admitted. "Why?"

"He can sense and determine our location from a great distance away, and yet he's just a kid. Most older wizards I know can't do that, even after training." The Trimens member turned and started working at his magic again. "Does he have some kind of special ability or talent?" He asked.

Lucy thought over Hibiki's question for a few moments before replying. "To be honest? I don't know a lot about him either. Maybe it has something to do with his magic?" _Levy probably knows._ Lucy thought.

"Possibly, but without more data I can't make a reasonable conclusion. Although his magic is strange..." Hibiki muttered, thinking about Gemini's violent reaction to using Garion's light magic. "...It seems to be totally different from any dark or light magic I've ever seen before. What's it called?" He asked.

"I think it was... Angel's light magic and Demon's darkness magic?" Lucy said, not sounding 100% sure of what she was saying. Hibiki held his right hand out to the side and created another interface, his hand furiously typing away at the magical keyboard.

"Angel's light and Demon's darkness..." He muttered, testing the words on his tongue. After several moments, he glanced to his right and frowned when Archive came up blank regarding the two aforementioned magic's. "Nothing." He said, his tone sounding curious.

"Nothing?" Lucy asked, confused as to what Hibiki meant.

"Archive's got nothing on either of these magic's. No data... no previous mentions of it or previous users... nothing." He frowned, and dismissed the extra interface he had summoned. For some reason he got the feeling that there was much more to the names of the magic's than just relating to the elements they were. "I'll sort it out later. For now, we've just gotta hold tight till Garion and Natsu get here."

Lucy nodded. "Did ya hear that Erza? Wendy's gonna be here soon. Just hold out a little bit longer okay?" Her expression turned serious. "I may not be much of a fighter, but I'll stay here to protect you, promise!" She said in a serious voice. Hibiki stopped working and glanced at her, a smile spreading across his face after a few moments. Lucy noticed and turned to look at him.

"Um... what the heck are you smiling at don't you have some work to do?" She asked, feeling uncomfortable.

"Sorry I didn't mean anything by it. It's just nice to see some light in the darkness." Hibiki said, almost sounding sad. Lucy just gave a quiet chuckle in response.

 _*Several minutes later, same location*_

The nearby bushes started rustling, causing Lucy to look at them in alarm. Hibiki narrowed his eyes and cast his gaze over to the bush. A moment later, Garion burst forth from the bush, and Natsu burst out a moment later.

"Ya miss us?" Natsu asked, a cheerful grin on his face.

"Natsu! Garion!" Lucy cried out in happiness, relief spreading across her face.

"Good to see you." Hibiki said, addressing Natsu. He then turned to face Garion "Is Wendy-" He stopped mid sentence and his eyes widened when he saw just how carefully and protectively Garion was holding Wendy. It almost looked like... he didn't want to let go. Hibiki realised he was staring and coughed. "Sorry, something got caught in my throat." He lied. "Is Wendy alright?" He asked. Garion nodded.

"She's fine, just unconscious." Natsu supplied. He then looked at Garion. "You gonna put her down or what?" He asked after several moments. Garion started and looked at the fire dragon slayer, a shade of pink tingeing his cheeks.

"Oh... Um... yeah..." He stammered. He carefully lowered Wendy to the ground, and when she was on the ground and he removed his arms, Garion's heart felt heavier. He looked down at her face and guilt pinged in his heart again.

"So how do we wake her up?" Lucy asked. Garion frowned slightly.

"I know how." He said.

Without saying anything, he placed his right hand just below her neck. He closed his eyes and his wings appeared, spreading out to their full length. His hand started to faintly glow, and magic started to flow from him into Wendy. After several moments, he opened his eyes, dispelled his wings, and removed his hand from Wendy's chest. Hibiki and Lucy gave Garion incredulous looks but Natsu was just looking at Wendy. After a few moments, the blue haired girls eyes fluttered open, and she blinked several times. Her eyes widened when she saw Garion looming over her and she bolted upright, nearly head butting Garion in the process. She then scrambled backwards several feet, letting out a panicked shriek as she did so.

"I had to do it!" She cried, raising her hands to the sides of her head and closing her eyes. "Sorry!" She cried again, and she started to shake out of fear. Garion's heart twisted in his chest, and he lowered his head.

"No." He said. "You shouldn't be sorry. It was my fault!" The blond haired boy cried. Everyone looked at him, shock written across their faces.

"W-Wha..." Wendy muttered, now confused. Her hands had let go of the sides of her head and were now hovering around her face.

"G-Garion?" Natsu and Lucy asked in unison, now completely confused.

"I'm sorry! It's my fault you got captured and then had to revive that guy... not yours!" Garion exclaimed, shaking slightly, his hands now on the ground. "I made a promise to you and I couldn't keep it! I promised to protect you, but I couldn't stop them from taking you!" His hands started digging into the ground. "I promised I'd protect you... and I couldn't... so please... I know I shouldn't ask anything of you... but please...!" Garion lifted his head, and Wendy's eyes widened at the look on his face. He was completely guilt stricken, and tears were starting to run down his face. "Erza's in serious trouble right now, she was bitten by a poisonous snake and needs help! Please, save her!" The dual element wizard pleaded.

Everyone was just staring at Garion by this point, but Natsu caught on. "Please! Save Erza! We need her now more than ever!" He pleaded, lowering his head in a pleading fashion.

"She's hurt...?" Wendy asked, still shocked and confused, turning her head to look at Erza. She'd been expecting to receive a tongue lashing for helping the enemy, to be yelled at, criticised, perhaps even kicked out the alliance...

...But she had never imagined that she would get an apology.

She looked at the young blue eyed wizard kneeling before her, eyes as wide as plates. _H-He took... his promise... to me... that seriously...?_ She wondered. She'd forgotten his promise, because of everything that had happened. As she thought about it, a faint yet strange feeling wormed it way into her heart. It was an odd, yet warm feeling she'd never felt before, but it wasn't unpleasant. It made her heavy, guilt ridden heart feel a little bit lighter, and her cheeks started burning slightly and gained a tinge of red.

"We need Erza to defeat the Oracion Seis." Hibiki said, breaking Wendy out of her thoughts. She turned her head to look at him. "We don't stand a chance against them without her help."

"Please Wendy!" Lucy pleaded. "We need her more than ever!"

"Please..." Garion begged, his eyes still upon Wendy. Seeing the look on the boys face, the sky maiden could only make one decision. She set her face into a serious expression and balled her hands into fists.

"Yeah! I'll try to save her!" She declared, now filled with determination. "No, I will!" Garion's eyes widened and he felt a wave of relief crash over him.

"Hooray!" Happy declared, still delirious.

"Snap out of it already! You're so pathetic..." Carla snapped.

"Aye~!" Happy replied.

Wendy moved over to Erza and knelt down beside her. She raised her arms and started using her magic, a soft blue glow shining from her hands as her magic worked. _I've heard Jellal did terrible things to hurt Erza in the past..._ Erza's wound closed up, and soon the purple mark on her body faded. _...but that's hard for me to believe._ Wendy thought

After half a minute the glow faded and her work was done. "Well that should do it." She turned around and smiled wearily at the group, raising her arm to rub her forehead. Surprisingly she hadn't used up as much magic power as she'd expected to, and had found it much easier than it normally did to heal someone. "I got rid of all the venom, now all we have to do is wait." She explained.

"Wait!?" Natsu, Happy and Lucy demanded. They looked at Erza and after a few moments started pouting and growling. Garion too was watching the S-class wizard, worry etched across his face, but Wendy could see he was still feeling guilty. The strange warm feeling appeared faintly in her heart again, but it was fleeting and soon faded.

"H-Hey Garion?" She said. The dual element wizard blinked and looked at her.

"Yeah?" He asked, his voice sounding strained.

"It's not your fault." Wendy said, trying to sound friendly. She then thought of something to say to try and make the boy feel better. "I-I'm not a-angry at y-you or anyt-thing... I-I know you did your best to try and keep your promise." She stammered quietly, not exactly sure what she saying was the right thing to say, as she'd never been in a situation like this before. A barrage of emotions were assailing her, like worry, guilt, relief and a great deal of confusion.

Garion looked at her, eyes wide. "Really...?" He breathed in a quiet voice. "Y-You're not mad at me?" Wendy slowly shook her head, and Garion blinked. He stared at her for a few moments before a relieved smile broke out across his face.

"SHE'S OKAY!" Lucy, Happy and Natsu declared happily. "Hey give me some skin Lucy!" Natsu said, raising his hand for a high five. Lucy complied and then started crying tears of happiness. Garion gave Natsu a surprised look before realisation spread across his face. He then spun around to look at Wendy, a grin present on his face

"Thanks Wendy! You're the best!" The young boy exclaimed cheerfully, causing Wendy to blush from embarrassment. "Guess we owe you one." He lowered his gaze and his grin settled into a sad smile. "And I'm sorry."

"N-No it's alright I-" Wendy started.

"It's not about that." He said. Wendy blinked in confusion.

"T-then wha-"

"I'm sorry I made you cry."

Wendy started and stared at Garion, eyes wide. Garion looked up at her. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to make it up to you, but I promise... I'll try. As soon as this is all over." He said. The feeling returned to Wendy, but a bit stronger this time, and her face heated up. She had no idea why she felt like this,

"I... Um... err..." She stammered. "T-Thanks!" She said, trying to sound cheerful but came off as extremely shy. The grin Garion directed at her eased her nerves and she felt herself relax somewhat. She then remembered the overall situation and worry assailed her once again. "T-Thanks Garion."

"Excuse me." Carla declared, hands stacked and a serious look on her face. "Now that your friend is healed please don't make Wendy use her sky magic again. She'll insist that she's fine, but I can tell she's exhausted from the look on her face."

"No you've got it all wrong!" Wendy defended. "I'm just worried is all." _And I don't feel that tired..._

"We're gonna strike back as soon as Erza wakes up. There's no need to worry okay?" Hibiki said, trying to comfort Wendy.

"Yeah! Watch out Oracion Seis!" Lucy confidently declared.

"Aye! We're not gonna let you get Nirvana!" Happy exclaimed, paw raised into the air. A moment later, a massive light started shining from deep within the forest.

"What is that!?" Lucy demanded, her voice now filled with panic. A massive column of black light shot into the sky, and huge black tendrils burst forth from the ground. They swirled and coiled in the air, forming a strange pattern around the pillar.

"A giant pillar of black light..." Wendy muttered as she stared at the column in disbelief, eyes wide from shock.

"No way!" Carla said incredulously. Happy was clinging to her and shaking violently. Garion stared at the pillar in shock, the sheer _evil_ of it greatly horrifying him.

"It's been unsealed!" Hibiki cried, his tone filled with panic. "That's Nirvana!"

Garion swallowed loudly. What was coming next...

...was definitely not going to be good.

* * *

 **Phew that was a big one! And that's the chapter! Thank you all for reading, and please leave a review telling me what you thought! And if I made any mistakes, please point them out!**

 **Ahh yes... now if anyone is worried, no I will not be rushing the romance. It will take time and effort, from both me, Garion and Wendy, but I assure you, I will make it worth the wait. Anyway thanks again for reading and see you next time!**

 **Next Chapter: When Angels clash.**


	8. When Angels clash

**Hello there and welcome to the chapter! Glad to see you. I'd just like to say, thanks a million, to all you guys and girls for reading this, it means a lot to me, and I'm glad you're all enjoying it. Thanks for taking the time to read this little story of mine. I'm honoured by the number of reviews, follows and favourites this story has, and it motivates me to work harder to not let all you guys and girls down!**

 **Where'd this sudden thankfulness come from?**

 **No idea to be honest, but I'm being honest, so thanks, to all of you.**

 **Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites and I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own FT**

* * *

Garion stared at the beam that Nirvana was shooting into the sky, his eyes wide and mouth open in shock.

"That's gotta be it." Hibiki said, snapping out of his shock induced stupor, his face now shifting into a serious expression.

"Seriously?" Lucy asked, her voice filled with shock and confusion. "But how'd the Oracion Seis beat us to the punch?" Hibiki didn't answer, and just kept staring at the beam.

"That pillar of light..." Natsu muttered. He then scowled, rage boiling up inside of him. "I know Jellal's there!" He said, voice seething with rage. Lucy blinked and her eyes widened in shock.

"Jellal...?" She asked weakly, her voice trembling. Natsu tensed up, and suddenly broke into a sprint, running off into the heart of the forest, which broke Garion out of his stupor. He gave Natsu an alarmed look as he ran off.

"Hold on!" Lucy called out in a vain attempt to stop him. "Wait, don't just run off without telling us what's happening!" she demanded, confusion racking her brain.

"No..." Wendy muttered, hands held in front of her face, her guilt suddenly running rampant again. "What have I done? Is this all because of me...?" She said, unaware of the darkness that was now beginning to surround her heart, and that Nirvana was slowly gaining interest in her.

"Who is Jellal?" Garion asked with a frown. Lucy and Happy gave him confused looks in reply.

"Didn't you hear about the Tower of Heaven?" Happy demanded, alarmed. The dual element wizard shook his head.

"The Tower of Heaven? What's that?" he asked, confused. Happy and Lucy shared a quick look before turning back to Garion.

"We can explain later. But why is he talking about Jellal?" Lucy asked, slightly dumbfounded that Garion hadn't heard about the events regarding The Tower of Heaven.

"Is he talking about that blue haired guy that was in the cave?" Garion asked. Lucy blinked and her eyes widened in terror.

"W-What did you just say!?" She demanded weakly, fear now running rampant through her body. Before Garion could reply, Hibiki spoke up.

"We can resolve this at another time, right now we need to go after Natsu!" Hibiki said, desperation in his voice. Lucy looked at him, fear and confusion still evident on her face, but she nodded. Suddenly there was a high pitched scream from behind Lucy and everyone spun around to look at the source.

"Erza has gone missing!" Carla declared in shock, her head snapping from side to side as she tried to find Erza. Lucy gasped in shock and Garion was momentarily stunned before he panickingly reached out with his magical sense. Wendy felt even more guilt flare up, and the darkness drew closer.

"I swear where are her manners?" Carla asked, her arms crossed and voice filled with annoyance along with a blaring tick mark on her forehead. "She didn't even thank Wendy for saving her life!"

"Uh oh, do you think she might have heard us mention Jellals name?" Happy said, worry etched into his features. Garion drew his magical sense back, now more worried as he'd been unable to find Erza due to the interference from Nirvana. _I can't sense anything aside from what's around me... not good._

"How could I be so stupid?" Wendy stammered quietly, her hands on her cheeks and her body shaking from the tears she was threatening to shed. Hibiki glanced at the girl. "What did I do? I never should have healed him! It's my fault Nirvana was found, Erza disappeared... and Natsu ran off!" She cried. A moment later Hibiki raised his arm and summoned several glyphs in the air in front of Wendy. The sky maiden could only gain a look of confusion before the glyphs pulsated and released a wave of concussive force, sending the blue haired girl flying into the air, the force of the hit knocking her unconscious with her mouth open, the scream of pain never escaping her lips. Garion spun around and his eyes widened in shock when he saw the girl in the air.

"Wendy!" He and Lucy cried out in unison.

"What do you think you're doing striking a girl!?" Carla demanded incredulously, shock etched into her features. Snapping out of his shock, Garion darted forwards and, realising he wouldn't be able to catch her safely, hurled himself at the ground underneath the girl. He grunted in pain as the combined pain of both having a rough landing and a girl land on top of him struck his senses at more or less the same time. He pushed himself up on his forearms, Wendy rolled off his back onto the ground as he did so, and spun around to look at Hibiki, confusion clearly present on his young features. The Blue Pegasus wizard had a serious look on his face, and after a moment lowered his arm.

"Garion get Wendy. We're going after Erza." He said curtly, clearly intending it to be a command. Garion blinked in confusion and opened his mouth to speak but was cut off. "Not now, we have to go." Hibiki said. Garion shut his mouth and picked Wendy up bridal style. He turned to look at the archive user, who simply nodded and took off into the forest. "Come on, lets go." He shouted back.

Confused and alarmed, the other four concious people present took off after the Blue Pegasus wizard, Carla and Happy taking flight whilst Lucy ran astride Hibiki and Garion followed behind the Exceeds who were behind Lucy and Hibiki.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you, but she's gonna be fine I just knocked her out." Hibiki explained after a few moments of silence.

"Why'd you do it?" Lucy demanded, confusion present on her face. "And why are we suddenly in a hurry?"

"We've gotta catch up with Natsu and Erza." Hibiki replied. "Just keep running till you reach the light."

"Why should we take orders from a brute like you?!" Carla demanded, fixing Hibiki with a hard glare. "I realise Wendy can be a bit of a whiner, but that's no reason for you to strike her!"

"Why did you hit her!?" Garion demanded, confusion present in his tone. "She didn't do anything!" Hibiki lowered his head, a worried look forming on his face.

"I did it because I had to." He said as he started slowing down. Eventually he stopped, and Lucy, Happy and Garion gave him confused looks whilst Carla simply glared at the Blue Pegasus wizard. "I haven't been completely honest." Hibiki continued. "I know a lot more about Nirvana than I originally let on." Happy let out a shocked gasp, his eyes widening.

"Why didn't you tell us?" The tomcat asked.

"I couldn't, because of the nature of the magic I couldn't say a word." Hibiki explained. Everyone fixed him with their full attention. "Even mentioning it now is risky and might put us in danger." Lucy regarded him with a serious but concerned look, as the Trimens member's tone was filled with worry. "That's why... guild master Bob only told me about it. Mister Ichiya, Ren and Eve have no clue."

"So what did he tell you?" Lucy asked, her tone serious.

"Nirvana... is a terrifying magic like no other." Hibiki replied. "It alone has the ability... to turn light into darkness." He finished. Garion's eyes widened and he felt worry pang through him. _N-No way..._ _T-Then what's it going to do to me!?_

"Are you for real?" Happy asked, disbelief clear on his face.

"My word..." Carla murmured, now worried about the implications of what Nirvana could do.

"It can switch them?" Lucy asked.

"But that doesn't happen until its final stage." Hibiki said, raising his head. "The first thing it does when it's been unsealed is shoot off a black beam, just like the one in front of us." Everyone was staring wide eyed and open mouthed at Hibiki by this point, all of them terrified of what Nirvana could do. "Then it goes in search of those who are weak. It'll switch anyone wavering between light and dark to the opposite alignment. In other words, a good guy who's feeling down and out, will likely fall to the dark side." He jerked his head and the group began moving again. Garion's eyes widened in realisation.

"So that's why... you knocked her out!" The boy blurted out. "So she wouldn't get switched!" Hibiki nodded an affirmative.

"She was at high risk of becoming a target because of her guilt. If I hadn't stepped in when I did she could have easily switched over to the dark side." The Blue Pegasus wizard affirmed. Garion looked down at the girl in his arms. _Wait... why did she feel like it was her fault? I said it was mine and I apologised..._ He wondered, now confused. _...and she said it was fine..._

"Now you've got me worried, is anger a negative emotion?" Lucy asked. "If so Natsu's in danger!"

Hibiki frowned, thinking the question thoroughly. "That's a tough call." He started. "Normally it would be, but because his anger is for someone else's sake, I don't know if you could classify it that way."

"But wait... what about me?" Garion asked. Hibiki frowned.

"I don't quite understand the question."

"I mean... what about my magic?" Garion clarified. "I can use light and dark... so what happens if it tries to turn my light magic into dark magic? Can it do that?" He queried. Hibiki's frown deepened.

"I... don't know." He admitted. "Unfortunately I don't have any information regarding your magic on archive, so I won't be able to determine how it'll be affected by Nirvana. But don't worry about that for now, since that'll only be a problem if it reaches it's final stage. Plus Nirvana focuses on alignment more than magic, so I doubt there's any chance of that happening." Garion nodded, despite the fact Hibiki couldn't see it. He then frowned.

"So... Nirvana looks for those who are feeling bad right? Does it... um... make those who felt bad earlier feel bad again?" The dual element wizard asked, not entirely sure he got his point across.

"What do you mean?" Hibiki asked, although he was quickly analysing Garion's statement in his mind.

"I mean... with Wendy... I apologised to her... and she said it was fine. So did Nirvana make her feel... guilty again?" He asked. Hibiki glanced back at the boy.

"In all likely hood yes. Although the sudden release of Nirvana could've also shaken her quite a bit." The Blue Pegasus wizard stated.

Happy was looking extremely confused by everything going on. "I feel like a dummy! Nothing you're saying is making any sense to me!" The tomcat whined.

"That's because you _are_ a dummy." Carla rebuked. "Allow me to spell it out for you. Now that Nirvana's seal has been broken it has the power to turn those with good hearts evil, and those with evil hearts good. Do you get it now blockhead?" The white furred Exceed asked. Happy nodded glumly.

"I kept quiet about it at first because if I told you what I knew you'd be at risk." Hibiki said, his face set in a serious expression. "Thinking in terms of good and evil can bring negative emotions to the surface, and before you know it they've taken hold of you. 'If only that person didn't exist', 'who's fault is it that I'm in pain', 'why does this always happen to me?'" The Blue Pegasus wizard explained. "These pessimistic thoughts... attract Nirvana and allow it to take control."

"Pessi-what?" Garion asked, confused by the big word.

"Pessimistic Garion. I think it means... uh..." Happy said, scrunching up his face as he tried to think of the meaning of the word.

"It means thinking negatively." Carla said exasperatedly. "Goodness how could you not understand that?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"Um..." Garion said, feeling embarrassed. "Levy never really taught me that many big words..." Lucy glanced at the blond haired boy, an eyebrow raised.

"Levy taught you words?" She asked. Garion nodded.

"She actually taught me how to talk too!" He declared, the grin on his face as bright as the sun. "She taught me a whole lot of other interesting stuff too! Like about different kinds of magic, other guilds, animals, books, the guild, food, people and music!" The boy said cheerfully, nearly stumbling over his words. "Levy's the best person ever!"

Lucy couldn't help but let a smile spread across her face. "And I taught him how to fly!" Happy declared proudly. "I was more than willing to teach him, but only after he made a good enough offer of fish!"

Lucy sweatdropped. _Not surprising._

"I now understand why he crashed earlier," Carla commented. "And I am amazed he even knows how to fly straight."

"Hey!" Happy shot back, looking wounded. "Wasn't that a bit mean?" He asked. Carla didn't reply.

Lucy rolled her eyes before refocusing her attention on Hibiki. "So whenever Nirvana is fully activated, everybody in the alliance could suddenly turn evil?" She asked.

Happy raised a paw. "One question: I understand the part about it turning us evil but does that mean it'll turn the dark guild guys good?" The tomcat asked.

"It's possible but there's no way of knowing for sure." Hibiki answered. "What makes Nirvana truly terrifying is the fact that it can be controlled to do whatever it's caster sees fit."

The rest of the group gained shocked expressions. "W-What?" Lucy asked.

"I'll explain." Hibiki said. "Let's say that a wizard were to use Nirvana against a guild. They could have the members start killing each other, or make them go to war with another guild for no reason. And they barely have to lift a finger." Garion felt fear creep into the pit of his stomach. _N-No way..._

"Seriously!?" Lucy asked, now even more scared than ever before.

"We've gotta find a way to stop it and fast!" Hibiki said urgently. "Otherwise the light guilds... will be wiped out." He said. Garion shifted Wendy in his arms, his fear even worse. _W-Wiped out?_ He thought fearfully, and he had to fight to keep himself from shaking.

"Come on, we need to catch up with them!" Hibiki barked. The group sped up, moving faster towards the pillar. They ran for several minutes until suddenly Hibiki and Lucy stopped. Before Garion could ask Lucy whipped out her keys, raising one above her head.

"Open, Gate of the Archer, Sagittarius!" She declared, whipping her arm down and holding out in front of her. A moment later a magic circle appeared and a man wearing a horse for a head emerged.

"I am ready to serve lady Lucy!" He said, snapping off a salute. Lucy pointed at Gray, who was currently standing over an immobile Natsu, a spear of ice in his hand and it was clear he was ready to use it. When Garion noticed he froze, and stared wide eyed at the ice wizard.

"Stop him!" Lucy ordered. Smoothly, Sagittarius withdrew an arrow from his quiver, notched it and fired it at the spear in the hand of the ice wizard. As Gray made to finish Natsu, his spear shattered, filling the air with chunks of ice. Glancing to the left, the ice wizard grunted before raising his left arm, ice magic gathering in his palm.

"All right come out!" he yelled, and launched a wave of ice lances. Sagittarius masterfully shot each one down. Lucy raised a finger and pointed it at Gray, an indignant look on her face.

"Mind telling me what the heck you're doing?" She demanded. The celestial wizard, Happy and Hibiki were all standing along the riverbank. Garion was setting Wendy down gently against a tree just behind them. After making sure that Wendy was comfortable, the boy rose to his feet and took position next to Lucy.

"Looks obvious to me!" Happy angrily yelled.

"It would appear we foiled his fowl play." Sagittarius added.

"Nice... shot... Lucy..." Natsu said before his cheeks bulged out and he went greener than grass. He collapsed back onto the raft, his stomach jumping through loops and circles.

"I know your motion sick but watching you nearly puke after saying my name is killing my self esteem!" Lucy cried, faux tears falling from her eyes.

"Shall I shoot him?" Sagittarius asked helpfully. The raft collided with a tree stump, causing Natsu's stomach to suddenly do a barrel roll.

"What's the matter with you Gray?" Happy demanded. "You're taking this way too far. Unless he stole your fish then you'd be completely justified!"

"Don't give him an out stupid cat!" Lucy snapped. Gray grunted in disgust.

"Could you guys be any more annoying?" He asked. "Mind your own business, I'll deal with the rest of you once I'm done with him so keep your little mouths shut and wait your turn!" He snapped, his smirk making Garion feel uneasy. Happy visibly recoiled, and Garion gave Gray an alarmed look.

"What!?" Happy and Garion said in unison.

"Is this Nirvana? Has that thing already switched one of us to the dark side?" Lucy asked, now giving Gray a worried look.

"N-No way..." Garion breathed.

"Why won't it stop?" Natsu whined, his body shaking. "It's wobbling, its swaying, Let me off..." He grunted out.

"How are you still sick when it's not even moving?!" Lucy demanded. Happy summoned his wings and launched himself towards Natsu.

"Hang on Buddy I'm coming for ya-AGH!" The small Exceed fell to the ground, now encased in a ball of ice.

"How could you!?" Carla demanded.

"W-What?!" Garion demanded. "That's not how you treat one of your friends Gray! What's gotten into you?" The ice wizard smirked in reply.

"Happy may be able to fly, but he can only carry one person." Gray said analytically. "He doesn't have any combat skills. That's all the info Gray has on the pest."

"You're not making any sense at all." Lucy said. "What's gotten into you?" Hibiki frowned.

"My guess is he's the first victim of Nirvana's magic." The Blue Pegasus wizard proposed. "He's switched to the dark side."

"He's got plenty of info on Lucy." Gray continued. "A newcomer to Fairy Tail, definitely easy on the eyes. He likes the whole package." he said, a twisted smirk on his face. Lucy felt steam shoot out of her ears.

"Um... should I be hearing this?" She asked, her face bright red and her hands held over her chest.

"She can be as hot headed as Erza, but she hides her pure heart." Gray continued in the same analytical tone. "Oh she's a celestial wizard?" He asked. Lucy started when he gathered ice magic around his left hand. "That so?" He shouted before launching a spinning saucer of ice at Lucy. The celestial wizard nearly screamed in terror, but suddenly the attack shattered. It took her a moment to realise Hibiki had blocked the attack using his archive magic.

"That's not Gray." He said. "I can tell you're an imposter. Drop the act." Hibiki said, an edge in his voice.

"What are you saying?" Lucy demanded.

"That's... not Gray!?" Garion asked, his head snapping side to side as he looked between Hibiki and Gray.

"Accessing information on Hibiki. A member of the Blue Pegasus guild, ladies man." Gray said. "No further details available." He grunted. "Well that wasn't helpful." He then looked to the right and his eyes fell upon Garion. "Accessing information on Garion. Nice kid, long standing member of Fairy Tail. Odd kind of magic, clings to Levy a lot. Reaches out to all those he can, bit naive sometimes and stupid at others. Unsure of his own abilities."

Garion frowned. "You're not Gray! Who are you?" He demanded. Gray smirked and let out a disturbing laugh, lowering his head as he did so. A moment later he lifted it up, and Garion recoiled. His eyes now had two white dots for pupils, and the rest was black. A cloud of smoke burst forth, shrouding him from view. When the smoke cleared, it revealed... a smirking Garion.

"Me!?" Garion asked incredulously. He then blinked. "Wait a second... I fought you before!" The other Garion's smirk faded.

"Yes. But this time." His smirk returned in full force. "I'm not going to lose."

"You've got to be kidding me." Hibiki said. "You know you're not fooling any one, we know you're not the real Garion so why don't you show us your true form?"

The other Garion laughed. "Oh I know. You don't need to fall for anything." He cocked his right arm back, darkness now coating both his arms. He summoned a ball of darkness, small tendrils swirling around it to signify it's growing power, a bright purple glow emitting from it. Garion's eyes widened, and he felt his legs lock up.

"No... what are you doing!?" He demanded.

"Simple. I'm using the power that you're too scared to use." Gemi-Garion replied with, the sphere in his hand growing in power. "Demon's obliteration..." He clamped his hand shut around the sphere, the purple light shining through the gaps in his fingers.

"GET OUT THE WAY!" Garion yelled, his wings appearing on his back. In an instant, Carla activated her magic and grabbed Wendy. As quickly as she was able, she lifted the sky dragon slayer into the air. Hibiki and Lucy took Garion's word and dived to the left, Sagittarius being dispelled in order to keep him safe, whilst Garion dived to the right. But as Garion had yelled, his counterpart had finished casting the spell.

"CANNON!" Gemi-Garion roared, jerking his arm forwards and opening his hand. A massive beam of purple magic erupted, hurtling like a freight train towards the light wizards. Unfortunately, Hibiki didn't quite make it out of the line of fire in time, and took a serious glancing blow, sending him crashing to the ground along with a yell of pain. Any trees unfortunate enough to be in the path of the beam's trajectory were annihilated. Garion grunted slightly as he crashed to the ground, but forced himself up on one knee as soon as he could. He felt the ground shake slightly as the spell detonated, and he glanced back to see a large cloud of smoke rising from the forest. He frowned as he saw the damage caused by the spell, charred husks of trees along the beam's trajectory and grey ash coloured ground.

"W-Whoa..." Lucy breathed, eyes wide at the destruction caused. "O-one spell did that!?"

"What power..." Hibiki grunted whilst holding his side. Lucy rushed over and knelt beside him, trying to help. Garion turned to look at his clone, who's breathing was more sporadic, and faint beads of sweat were visible on his face.

"Damn... I missed..." he grunted between breaths. He glanced up at Carla and Wendy, and a smirk formed on his face. "And just where do they think they're going?" He summoned a sphere of darkness magic and took aim. Before he could throw it a spear of light flew towards him, forcing him off the raft and into the water. As he surfaced, he spluttered violently, and rose to his feet before growling at Garion.

"You are not going to hurt Wendy." The boy said with determination. His features softened. "Please, just surrender. You've used up a lot of your magic power with that attack, I can sense it."

Gemi-Garion scoffed. "As if I would ever surrender to someone like you."

Hibiki glanced up at Garion. "Might I ask... what exactly was that spell he used?"

Garion looked at the Blue Pegasus wizard. "Demon's Obliteration Cannon. It's my strongest, and most unstable spell. I never use it since whenever I do, It uses up a large chunk of my magic power." The dual element wizard looked back at Gemi-Garion. "And sometimes, it just blows up in my face."

"Of course you'd never use it since you're so scared of killing someone." His clone snapped. "You're just like that aren't you? Too damn kind for your own good. It makes me sick just by looking through your memories."

"That's quite enough." A voice said from the opposite riverbank. Lucy and Hibiki scowled as Angel walked into view, and Garion frowned. "Take a break, my pets. Save your energy."

"As you wish." Gemi-Garion burst into a cloud of smoke. A haunting laugh emerged and the twin spirits of Gemi and Mini were revealed, chanting "Piri Piri." Angel smirked.

"Hello Lucy darling!" She stretched out her left arm flamboyantly. "How does it feel to gaze upon an angel?"

"I'm pretty sure I'd rather be blind Lady!" Lucy shot back. "And besides, Garion's more of an angel than you are anyway!" Angel's smirk evaporated and she glared at the blond haired celestial wizard.

"Ah yes... the _boy._ " She sneered, turning her gaze onto Garion. The boy frowned and crouched slightly, his legs a bit further apart. His wings twitched slightly. "With his mockery of wings! How _dare_ you impersonate something as beautiful and glorious as an angel!" She placed a hand on her chest. "I will tear your wings off myself, if that is what is required to teach you a lesson!" She then turned to Lucy. "Oh I'm sorry darling, I didn't mean to ignore you. What do you think of my pets? Have they been entertaining you?" She smirked. "I'm quite fond of their little trick." The two spirits drifted forwards slightly.

"I'm Gemi."

"And I'm Mini!"

Angel raised a golden celestial gate key. "I believe you know them as the Gemini twins. Celestial spirits make the best toys..." she said eerily. Garion's eyes widened at her statement.

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "You're a celestial wizard!? That makes me sick."

Angel chuckled. "As much as I hate to say it, you're not the one I'm here for. Well... not first anyway." She looked at Garion. "I'm here to deal with the imposter." The dark wizard glanced at Lucy. "If you hand over your keys now I'll let you leave. Consider it, or you'll be wearing lots of red!"

"Never to the likes of you!" Lucy yelled, brandishing Aquarius's key. "And I'll never abandon any of my friends! Open, gate of the water bearer! Aquarius!" She commanded, and launched into battle.

Angel smirked. "Deal with the boy you two." The spirits let out a Piri Piri in acknowledgement before taking off towards Garion. They transformed into the young boy half way across the lake, darkness magic already at the ready and right fist cocked back. Garion switched to his darkness magic and hurled himself towards his imposter, left fist cocked back and ready to strike. The two hurled their punches at each other as they met in mid air, the surface of the water being disturbed by the collision, and even more as the two fell into the water, but Gemi-Garion was knocked back by the force of the collision, causing him to fall backwards into the water.

Grunting, Gemi-Garion leapt to his feet and summoned a ball of darkness in his left hand and swung his arm forwards, aiming for Garion's head. The dual element wizard ducked under the blow. Tensing his legs, he transferred magic into his lower appendages, coating them in swirling purple magic. Like a coiled spring he shot forwards, sending a fist into Gemi-Garion's stomach, causing spit to fly out the spirits mouth. The attack carried them out of the water onto the river bank, Garion landing on his feet and Gemi-Garion hitting a tree. Summoning a sphere in each hand, Garion charged his opponent and let fly with his attacks, both of which collided and kicked up a cloud of dust. As the dual element wizard charged into the cloud, his advance was abruptly halted as a fist slammed into the middle of his face, sending him crashing back into the water, the force of the landing winding him.

Before he could lift his head above the surface, Gemi-Garion was on top of him, raining darkness enhanced punches down on him. Garion's vision had stars dancing across it, his chest burned, and his body started rapidly losing strength. Slamming his hands into the ground, Garion detonated the magic he'd gathered around his arms. The force of the explosion blew his clone off of him and Garion whipped his head above the surface, struggling to take in a much needed deep breath. His soaked hair stuck to his forehead, his clothes clung to his body and his breathing was ragged. He was shaking slightly, and his arms felt weak.

However his opponent wasn't content to let him rest and charged him, a massive amount of power swirling around his right arm, but his exhaustion was clear. Garion's eyes widened and he barely managed to hurl himself to the left to dodge the attack. His clone's fist collided with the riverbed, and a massive sprout of water shot into the air. Thinking on his feet, Garion quickly took another gulp of air and gathered magic around his legs again and launched himself at his opponent, arm cocked back and ready to strike. His clone was looking around, unable to see due to the wall of water around him. He reached out with his inherited magical sense to try and find-

His efforts were in vain as Garion's fist collided with the side of his face, a powerful blow which sent him crashing into the ground. Recovering quickly the spirit leapt to its feet and charged Garion, fist cocked back and ready to strike. Garion answered with a punch of his own, the force of the attack disturbing the water around them. Gemi-Garion cried out in surprise as his legs suddenly gave way and he plunged under the surface of the water, courtesy of Garion delivering a sweeping kick. The dual element wizard raised his fist, but hesitated as he loomed over his clone. The spirit felt his hesitation, and quickly delivered a powerful punch to the boys gut, causing him to stagger backwards and clutch his stomach in pain.

Gemi-Garion forced himself onto his feet and gave Garion a disgusted look. "Pitiful. You had the chance to end it, and you hesitated." He said between pants. He grinned. "And that will be your end!" The spirit charged forward, and Garion hurled himself to the side to dodge the spirits attempted sucker punch. Much to Garion's confusion however his clone suddenly vanished, but he didn't see the two small spirits sneak away underneath the water and brush past Lucy's legs before vanishing. The twin element wizard looked around in confusion until he felt something wrap around his left leg. Reaching down into the water, he frowned when he found it was a red hair band.

"W-What..." He said between pants. He started and looked to his left, and his eyes widened when he saw what was going on. Lucy was shaking violently. A man in a suit was engaged in a fierce battle with a woman wearing a strange outfit with horns sticking out of her head. Angel had a strange metal ball which was in the shape of a cannon next to her. Suddenly it fired, the beam piercing clean through both Aries and Leo. Garion's mouth fell open in shock. Angel was just laughing.

"Ah hahahahaha, now that's entertainment!" She said, giving a thumbs up. The two spirits faded, and Garion could't help but share the same shocked expression Lucy had. "See? That's how you pull off multiple gates darling!" She taunted, twirling her keys in her hand. "Looks like I've put your most powerful spirit out of commission for a while." Garion moved up next to Lucy, his breathing now more or less back to normal but his physical exhaustion still weighing on him. "Oh the boy's still alive? What a shame, if you give up I promise to make it quick and painless." She extended a hand towards the boy. "I won't even tear your wings off."

"..." Garion was quiet, too shocked to actually say anything.

"You disgust me." Lucy spat, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Are you crying?" Angel asked incredulously. "It's not like they actually die so why bother wasting your tears?"

"But they do feel pain!" Lucy shot back. "They're not mindless dolls for you to play with! A real celestial wizard would respect their spirits!"

"Oh?" Angel gave a quiet laugh before smirking. "I seem to remember saying... you weren't the focus of my attention..." Lucy withdrew her last key, holding it tightly in her right hand.

"Open, gate of the golden bull, Taurus!" She commanded, sweeping her arm down. A turquoise magic circle appeared in the air, and Taurus burst forth, letting out a loud "Mooooo" as he materialised.

"Gemini." Angel said, annoyance in her voice. The spirit materialised in the air next to her, and Caelum changed to it's sword form.

Taurus glared at the other celestial wizard. "Making Lucy cry was the worst moooove~ of your life! Get ready for a rodeo of pain!" The spirit then blinked in confusion at the _other_ Lucy who was standing in front of him, in an extreme suggestive pose. Garion had to do a double take when he saw Lucy's clone, and the real Lucy could only stare in shock.

"Come get some~!" She cooed. Taurus dropped his axe and charged towards Gemi-Lucy, hearts pounding in his eyes. As he reached her, she spun around and knocked him flying into the air with Caelum. "And he's outta here!"

"Smooches!" Taurus cried before he faded out of the material world.

"No! Taurus!" Lucy cried. Suddenly her legs gave way and she collapsed to her knees. "What... already...?" Her body started shaking from exhaustion.

"Lucy!" Garion shot forwards, placing himself in front of her. Angel laughed.

"Oh how adorable. Weaklings sticking together, thinking that they can overcome their betters." She grinned evilly. "You can't win. Unlike that novice I'm not even close to running out of magic power, and now that she's finally out of the way, I can get around to my real goal here." Her grin turned into a glare. "Killing you."

Garion felt a shiver run down his spin, and then his whole body started shaking. _I-I'm alone against a member of the Oracion Seis!? H-How can I win!?_ Gemini turned back into Garion, and rested Caelum on his shoulder, smirking. "He's scared." The clone narrowed his eyes. "He knows he's alone, and that he's got to face us."

"N-No..." Lucy said defiantly. "I still haven't... used... Sagittarius..." She reached for the golden key.

"Lucy don't!" Garion snapped, spinning around, worry etched into his features. Lucy looked up at him, eyes widening. "You don't have enough magic power left to open a gate! You're not going to die to try and help me! So please, let me handle this!" His face had a determined, yet fearful expression on it.

The celestial wizard was taken aback by Garion's sudden deceleration. "N-No..." She said, grabbing the key she was looking for. "I won't... sit by and just... let you... fight her..." She raised the key, her hand trembling. "Friends... don't leave their other friends out to dry... right?"

Garion stared at Lucy, and he opened his mouth to speak. However Angel's sudden sarcastic remark cut him off, "Oh please, feel free to go ahead and kill yourself. It'll make dealing with the boy so much easier, since how could he ever handle the guilt of one of his friends dying for his sake?" She laughed.

"He couldn't." Gemi-Garion said. "He'd be more likely to kill himself."

Angel laughed again. "Oh really? Well please Lucy darling, go through with summoning that spirit of yours. I am absolutely _dying_ to watch that imposter take his own life!" Gemi-Garion laughed at her joke.

"Open.. gate of the..."

"Lucy... please... don't." Garion said. "I... I can do this!" He said, determination filling his voice. "I need to... for the sake of all our friends!" Lucy looked up at the boy, eyes wide. Then, she nodded.

"Beat her... for all our friends." She whispered. Garion gave a quick nod and turned around, doing his best to keep his shaking body and mounting fear under control.

Angel raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Well then... Gemini... leave Caelum here... and deal with the boy."

"As you wish." Gemi-Garion said, releasing the other celestial spirit. Summoning his dark magic, he charged, his magic gathering around his arms. Garion summoned his light magic and charged forwards. His clone smirked. "Well now, that'll make it all the mor-" He was cut off as Garion shot around him faster than the spirits eyes could follow. He roared in pain as a spear of light slammed into his back. He crashed into the river bed, springing to his feet as soon as he could.

"Rain of light!" Garion yelled. Gemi-Garion scowled as the spell approached him, and raised his arms, gathering his magic around them.

" **Darkness wave!** " He yelled. The wave surged forward, engulfing Garion's light rain, and then the two attacks detonated. Gemi-Garion launched himself through the air towards Garion, fists cocked back and ready to strike. He swung, aiming for the boys head. Garion dodged both blows and cupped his hands together.

"Light grenade!" He yelled, thrusting them forwards. The spell hit his doppelgänger dead centre in his chest, sending him crashing into the ground. He burst from the surface of the water and shook his head to get the water out of his eyes. He looked up at Garion with an odd smirk.

"Just as I thought. You can't fight me for real." He stood up. "All this time, you've been confused, unsure. Not really able to fight properly. You were able to fight Laxus the way you did because you barely knew him, but even then you held back just a little bit." The clones smirk spread further across his face. "Your 'kindness' is pathetic. In this world, only the strong survive! And you are weak."

Garion stared at his clone, eyes wide. Lucy looked between the two. _W-What is he..._

"Gemini..." Angel said testily. "What are you up to?"

"I'm letting this idiot know just how pathetic his kindness is. And just how weak it makes him." Gemi-Garion chuckled. "Really... and because of it... you'll lose..." His smirk turned into a violent grin. "... and then I'll kill Wendy with your own two hands! I know all about your promise to her... how ironic would it be for the very person who promised to keep her safe to be the one who ultimately ends up taking her life!"

Angel caught on and smirked. "That sounds like a wonderful idea my pet! Oh! Maybe we could keep him alive for it? Just to let him watch."

Garion stared at his imposter. Eyes wide, mouth open, and his body started shaking. _N-No...! W-Wendy..._ He balled his hands into fists, his shaking more violent now. _H-He'll hurt Wendy... and the others... looking like me... and I won't be able to stop him since I can't... since I'm..._

"Garion don't listen to them!"

The boy blinked and turned to look at Lucy who was giving him a pleading look. "Please! Ignore them! They're just trying to make you fall to the dark side! You can win!"

Gemi-Garion scowled and glared at Lucy. "Shut up!" he roared, launching a powerful sphere straight towards her. The celestial wizard closed her eyes and braced for the pain. It never came. She opened her eyes to see Garion standing in front of her, a shield of light in front of him. He glanced back at Lucy.

"I'll handle this." He turned to look at Gemi-Garion. "I thought... because you were me... you wouldn't be evil." Garion lowered his head. "I don't like to fight... and it's true I always hold back... cause I don't want to hurt anyone... but..." Suddenly Garion recalled that crystal clear image he had in his mind of Wendy's smile. The memory gave him a sudden surge of strength, along with a faint warmth in his chest. He snapped his head up, the look of determination in his eyes startling his clone. "I'm not going to let you hurt any more of my friends! Especially Wendy! I'm going to give it everything I have!" He balled his hands into fists, darkness coating them. "I'm going to defeat you, then we're going to stop Nirvana!"

"Empty words. Gemini, deal with him." The celestial spirit nodded and charged, a grin on his face.

The spirit cockily said, "Are you sure you can ha-" A fist to the face rudely interrupted him, sending him crashing into the water. He burst forth a moment later, his smirk replaced with a look of fury. Without hesitation Garion charged him and began raining punches down onto the celestial spirit, who was suddenly struggling to hold off the dual element wizard, throwing back punches whenever he could but taking more damage than he was giving. _Damn... when did I get so slow-_ The spirits eyes widened. _DAMMIT! That spell took more out of me than I thought!_

His thoughts were interrupted by a powerful kick to his stomach. He doubled over in pain. Seeing a chance, he grabbed Garion's leg and pressed his full weight on it. The dual element wizard immediately let his other leg slip out from underneath him and the two went crashing into the water. Gemi-Garion let go of the leg and swung his fists violently. He smirked when he felt his fist collided with what felt like Garion's ribs, but his smirk faded as a darkness enhanced fist slammed into his face in reply, causing his head to snap back violently. Roaring in anger, he brought his head forwards and hurled another two punches at Garion. The first one collided with the side of the boys face, but the other one was caught by his left hand before it could land.

He then felt something strange, a burning feeling within his chest. His eyes widened when he realised it was coming from Garion. "I said..." The boy forced the spirit back "... I'm not... going... to... LOSE!" Unleashing a mighty battle cry, Garion swung his right arm in a powerful uppercut. The attack collided with his clones jaw, sending him flying into the air. He then delivered a follow up punch to the clones chest, sending him bouncing along the surface of the water before coming to a stop. Garion's chest still hurt slightly from earlier, and he winced whenever he took a long drag of air. The muscles in his arms and legs were burning, but his determination was allowing him to ignore his physical pains, albeit temporarily. _My body's tired... but I've still got plenty of magic power!_

Gemi-Garion forced himself to his feet, his chest heaving. He glared at Garion. _D-Damn it... he's overpowering me!_ The spirits eyes widened as a plan formulated in his mind. _If that's so... then I guess I'll just..._

Garion charged, fists raised and determination on his face. His clone smirked, and was engulfed a cloud of smoke. A moment later, he was revealed to have changed into Lucy, a smirk on her face. She spread her arms to the sides, and Garion's eyes widened. "Well? Will you still fight me?" The spirit mocked. Garion tried to stop himself in mid air, but then he casted his gaze over Gemi-Lucy's shoulder.

His mouth nearly fell open. Caelum was in its cannon form, charging a shot which was aimed dead centre at Gemi-Lucy's back. Without thinking, without giving any thought to the possible consequences, Garion switched to his light magic and hurled himself at Gemi-Lucy. The spirit's eyes widened as he suddenly charged, and her smirk crumbled. It was replaced with complete confusion as Garion grabbed the spirit by the shoulders and hurled her to the right. As quickly as he could, the boy brought his arms up to try and block the attack, switching to his darkness magic as he did so, but he wasn't fast enough and screamed in pain as the beam struck him and sent him flying backwards, burning off most of his shirt. He crashed into the water, a loud splash accompanying his landing.

"GARION!" Lucy cried out. She tried standing up, only for her legs to give out and cause her to fall to her knees. "No no no no no..." She reached the boy, and, with great effort, pulled his head above the surface of the water. "Garion! Are you okay?" She felt dread seed itself in her stomach. She violently shook the boy. "Garion!" She cried. A wave of relief crashed onto her when he started coughing, large globules of water flying out of his mouth. Gemi-Lucy couldn't help but give the dual element wizard a shocked look. _W-Why... Why did he..._

"L-Lucy?" He asked weakly, his face ghostly white. The damage was bad, most of his upper left chest had been burnt and badly bruised by the attack.

"Oh thank God, you're alive." The celestial wizard helped him over to the small island in the middle of the stream, resting his back against it. "A-Are you okay?" She asked.

Garion shook his head weakly. "I... it... hurts..." He winced, his hand on the wound. "It... burns... its... sore..." He gritted his teeth. "I'll be fine... just... deal with Angel..."

Lucy hesitantly nodded then turned around and glared at Angel. The dark wizard was roaring with laughter.

"I... I can't believe it..." She said, reaching up to wipe her tears with her right hand, her left still clutching her stomach. "W-What an idiot! Putting your life in danger just to save an enemy!? Talk about stupid!" She wiped more tears away and calmed down. "Now... thanks for the entertainment darlings but I think it's about we got moving. Gemini, finish them."

The celestial spirit shuddered, her head lowered and her eyes obscured by her hair. "Gemini? I said. Finish. Them." Lucy glanced at the spirit before she fixed Angel with a determined glare. "Hey quit staring, it annoys me." Angel remarked, narrowing her eyes.

"Release Aries from her contract."

Gemini started. Angel chuckled. "You're joking right?" Angel inquired, dead panning.

"Karen tormented her... broke her on almost a daily basis." Lucy said. "She deserves to be happy, but that won't happen... until she's free..." Gemi-Lucy raised her head, and gave Lucy a shocked look. She wanted to strike her... she wanted to hurt her... it was what her master wanted... and it was what she had to do...

 _So why can't I raise my arm and do it!?_ The spirit wondered, her whole body now shaking. Struggling with all her will, she managed to raise the weapon and strike Lucy, but as she did so, she felt her entire being cry out in objection to it. Lucy screeched as she struck the rock next to Garion.

"What do we say when we want something from someone Lucy my dear?" Angel asked, smirking. "Well? I'm waiting."

"Please... let her go..." Lucy pleaded. She lowered her head. "... I beg you..." Tears started to well up in the blond's eyes. "She should be with Loke... and we can make that happen for them..." Her whole body started shaking. "Do what you want with me... just release Aries so she can find her own happiness!"

Angel laughed. "For free?" Gemi-Lucy was starting to tremble. _N-no! S-stop it!_

Lucy started shaking. "You can have anything..." She lowered her head. "Except for my spirits! You can even take my life! And please, let Garion live as well!" Gemi-Lucy's trembling was intensifying.

"My how generous..." She gained a dark look on her face, a smirk spreading across her lips. She waved her arm. "Gemini, collect for me! And take care of the brat too." The spirit complied, raising Caelum above her head. She could feel her entire body protesting what she was being ordered to do, a shadow being cast over her eyes. Angel's smirk fell slightly. "Hurry up!" She ordered.

"You have a heart." Gemi-Lucy looked up to see Garion smiling. "You always did..." The boy said.

The spirit lowered Caelum slightly. "Huh..." Her voice now both Gemi and Mini's as opposed to simply Lucy's. "I hear a strange voice... it's in my head..." _I love celestial spirits so much Mama! Can you teach me how to summon them?_ The spirit heard a young Lucy say, an image of the young girl beaming at her mother appearing in her mind. _Celestial spirits are my friends! Not my shield!_ She heard an older Lucy cry, a picture of her hugging the fading Loke in front of the celestial spirit king replacing the previous picture. _I can't just sit here while my friend disappears right before my eyes!_ Gemi-Lucy's shaking intensified, and a single tear ran down her cheek.

"No... I can't..." Her voice became mixed again, more tears running down her face. "She loves us... She's willing to give up her life for us... We envy... her spirits..."

Angel let out a gasp, her eyes widening. Garion's smile grew slightly. Lucy looked up at the spirit. "Gemini..." She breathed. Angel's expression was a mixture of shock and disbelief.

"Begone!" she ordered, swiping the spirit's key through the air. Gemi-Lucy faded, Caelum floated down to the surface of the water, and Angel gripped the spirits key, her hand shaking from rage. "Oh... You'll suffer for that!" She growled, looking at the key. A splashing noise returned her attention to the two wizards in front of her, and she took a step back when she saw Garion on his feet. His legs were shaking violently, and his face was contorted into a visage of pain, but there was a look of determination on his face that was hard to miss. Angel stared at him for a moment before she laughed. "Oh? Do you truly believe you can stand up to me in that state?" She asked, but her tone wavered as she spoke. Caelum took position next to her.

"Yes..." Garion said, taking a step forwards, his whole body shaking. "Because... I know..." He took another step. "My friends..." Another step. "Are behind me..." Yet another, and Angel took a step back. "And... that... gives... me strength!" He clenched his right hand into a fist, and raised it. His wings bellowed out from his back, and magic began to gather around his form. "Strength I need... to defeat you!"

"Are you serious!?" Angel demanded alarmingly. She then growled angrily and swiped her arm through the air. "Fire! FIRE! FIRE FIRE" She desperately roared. Caelum complied and began charging, its attack aimed straight at Garion's heart. Garion's magic swirled around his arms, its strength rising with each second. _I've only got one shot at this... I need to make it count!_

Caelum finished charging, and unleashed its attack. Garion tensed his arms and raised them in an X-shape, and a shield of light formed in front of them. The boy gritted his teeth as the green beam of energy struck his shield, and he poured as much magic power as he could spare into it, but he noticed that the attack wasn't as nearly as powerful as he'd been expecting. With a yell, he thrusted his arms outwards and deflected the attack into the river, water spraying into the air as it struck the riverbed. He began walking forward again and extended his shaking arms out to his sides and willed a massive spear of light to form in each of his hands, the effort requiring all his concentration.

Angel was beginning to retreat. "NO NO NO NO! FIRE AGAIN!" She angrily roared. The spears in Garion's hands reached the level of power he needed, but then his foot got caught on a stone. He teetered forwards, his eyes widened and the spears in his hands began to weaken. But he managed to save himself with a quick flap of his wings, which lifted him out of the water, and he redirected more magic power into the spears. Caelum was charging again, still aimed at the dead centre of Garion's chest.

 _This is it!_

Garion drew his arms back, tightening his grip on the spears. "Twin Grand Angel spears!" He yelled before unleashing the attack. The two spears circled each other as they flew towards Angel, who looked upon the approaching attack with abject terror. Caelum reached full charge and unleashed its attack, the beam flying towards Garion. The boy felt fear wash over him, but he shifted his body to the left. Just before the beam was about to reach him, it jerked slightly to his right, guaranteeing that it would miss him.

Angel was not so lucky.

The two spears collided with each other less than a foot away from the dark wizard dark wizard, who'd raised her arms in a futile attempt to protect herself, and detonated. The intensity of the explosion caused the celestial wizard to scream in pain as the attack racked her body, dealing significant damage. However, that wasn't the worst part of it, as her entire body seemed to start burning from the inside out as the light from Garion's spell engulfed her. After several moments, the light faded, revealing Angel falling backwards into the water, seemingly defeated.

Garion stared at Angel for a few moments. Then, letting out a tired sigh, he collapsed, his wings fading. His eyelids started drooping, and he crawled over to the riverbank and collapsed against it, feeling completely drained. _I... t... it's... over..._

"Garion!?" A panicked voice asked from behind him. The boy rolled onto his back, and smiled when he saw Lucy was kneeling next to him, clutching her arm. She breathed another sigh of relief. "What is it with you guys risking your lives so much... and without even thinking..." She muttered.

"Huh?"

"Hmm? Nothing!" Lucy said evasively. Garion was too tired to inquire further and he just let his head fall back.

"We beat her..."

"No... you beat her." Lucy interjected

Garion looked at her. "No. If it hadn't been for your help, she'd have beaten me. If anything, you're the one who beat her." He smiled. "Without you, Gemini wouldn't have been able to understand..." His smile fell. "I feel bad for them... to be treated like that day after day... to have no friends... no one deserves that..."

Lucy gave a sad smile. "Yeah..." A loud moan drew the attention of the two to the raft that Natsu was on.

"It won't... stop... moving... can't... last much... longer..." The fire dragon slayer complained, despite the fact that the raft was still dead still. Lucy sweat dropped.

"Let's help him out." Garion suggested. Lucy nodded, and offered her hand. He accepted it and she pulled him to his feet, but had to grab him by the shoulders to stop him from falling over.

"You gonna be okay?" Lucy asked. Garion nodded, his legs wobbling unsteadily. Lucy let go of his shoulders slowly, and Garion managed to maintain his balance, but he was still weary. The two started to move over to Natsu, but Angel and Caelum suddenly bursting out of the water behind them drew their attention. Garion's legs nearly gave out and the two light wizards just stared at Angel, who looked extremely battered and bruised, and were unable to believe that she was still standing.

"I... will... not... lose!" She said, almost sounding demented. Caelum switched from its ball form to its cannon form. "I'm one of the Oracion Seis... you never stood a chance!" She had a psychotic look on her face.

"N... No!" Garion breathed. "D-Did I screw up!?"

Lucy tensed up and stood in front of Garion. "No..." She said, unable to keep the fear out of her voice, her whole body trembling. "You didn't..." Caelum's power was reaching critical levels.

"I'll use the last of my power..." Angel started shaking. "TO SEND YOU TO THE GRAVE!" Caelum fired, the green beam of energy hurtling towards Lucy and Garion. Both of them sharply closed their eyes, turned their heads away and tensed up, waiting for the pain that never came. The beam veered off just before it hit Lucy, going around the two wizards and striking the tree trunk behind them. Angel was speechless for several moments before she lowered her gaze to her spirit. "No you missed... filthy traitor!" She said with venom. The spirit simply blinked two red lights in reply before returning to the celestial spirit world. The dark wizard's legs gave out, and she fell into the water.

As a result of the trunk being destroyed, the raft Natsu was on began to drift down stream, kicking off another round of motion sickness for the dragon slayer.

"Hang on!" Lucy called out as she turned around. Garion spun around as well, and his eyes widened.

"Uh oh..."

"Come on! We need to catch him!" The two wizards started wading through the water in an attempt to catch up to Natsu, Garion was holding Lucy's left hand so he wouldn't lag too far behind. "It's moving too fast!" Lucy cried. Garion concentrated and brought out his wings and tried to take off but he nearly went face first into the water instead of taking off. "You've gotta pull yourself together! Come on I know you can do it!" Lucy stretchered her right hand out towards the raft. "Take my hand!" Natsu weakly raised his arm, and Lucy managed to grab a hold of it. "Gotcha!"

Everything went downhill from there.

The raft, as it turned out, was right at the top of some very fast running rapids. With a surprised cry Garion and Lucy were pulled over the edge, and a moment later spat down the rapids. Lucy was on top of Natsu, whilst Garion was clinging for dear life to the side of the raft, his adrenaline rush the only thing allowing him to do so. The expression on his face clear showed he was not in the least bit amused or satisfied by his location. In fact he looked just a tad bit worried.

"WHERE'D THESE RAPIDS COME FROM!?" Lucy screeched in terror. Garion let loose his own high-pithed scream of terror as the raft rocketed down the rapids. With a massive heave, he managed to get onto the raft, now completely soaked by his 'experience'. The boy let out a sigh of relief, which he immediately regretted the moment he looked forward.

"Oh no way!" Lucy and Garion cried in unison as they saw that there was a massive drop up ahead. "You gotta be kidding me!" Lucy looked down at Natsu. She then looked back at Garion.

"Hold on!" She said, trying to sound confident in the face of the waterfall. Garion nervously nodded his head. As the raft went flying off the edge of the waterfall and broke apart, Lucy clung to Natsu for dear life whilst Garion was comically clinging to one of the logs that had made up the raft. Both of them tensed up as they plunged towards the bottom of the waterfall, Lucy clinging to Natsu and Garion clinging to his log.

With a large and loud splash the trio broke the surface of the water. Garion felt the water rush up to greet him, his body finally gave in to exhaustion, and darkness took him.

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 **And that is done! Thank you very much for reading and please drop a review telling me what you thought and I hope you enjoyed! Let me know how I did on the fight scenes, I'm working hard on those, and I felt like the ones in this chapter were good, but please just let me know what you think!**

 **Garion beat Angel. I felt like it was kinda appropriate plus ironic that ANGEL of all people would get beaten by someone who uses magic called 'Angel's light magic.' Like I said, he's the MC, I'll be giving other people's victories to him. Not all of them mind you, and only ones that I think make sense.**

 **So anyway, thanks for reading, I'll be sure to include more Garion and Wendy bits next chapter (since that's what this story is mainly about) and I'll see you all in the next chapter!**

 **Tally-ho!**

 **Next Chapter: Nirvana Rising.**


	9. Nirvana rising

**Hello and welcome to the chapter! Glad to see you! Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites and I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

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Wendy and Carla sat atop a small rocky outcrop, the dragon slayer hugging her legs and Carla sitting with her arms crossed, eyes downcast. The sun sat low, cut in twain by the horizon and slowly descending further, and casted a crimson light over the Worth Woodsea. The silence was broken when Wendy started speaking.

"Maybe... I shouldn't have joined the alliance..." She said weakly.

"Child stop beating yourself up it wasn't your fault!" Carla said quickly, turning her head to look at the young girl.

"Yes it was..." Wendy tightened her grip on her legs.

"You're playing with fire Wendy. Nirvana could change your heart at any moment." Carla said in a warning tone. She relaxed against the rock behind her., turning her head to look at the sunset.

"I'm a coward. I left Garion and the others, instead of staying to fight with them."

"You know as well as I do that if you had stayed you would only be in the way." Carla glanced at Wendy. "And besides, you would've been targeted and Garion would've done everything to keep you safe, he'd probably end up getting himself hurt, if how seriously he takes his promises is anything to go by."

Wendy curled even further into herself, but a brief sensation of warmth fluttered in her chest at the thought of the sandy-blond haired boy. "See I shouldn't have come."

"Don't you dare say that!" Carla snapped. "Remember if you hadn't been here they would've lost Erza."

"Yeah..." Wendy said, not sounding the least bit convinced. "But the Oracion Seis found Nirvana because of me."

"Is it really all that bad child? I sense part of you is glad to see that Jellal fellow again, though I'm not sure why... not to mention that boy from Fairy Tail as well." Wendy rested her forehead against her arms, letting out a sigh as she did so. The Exceed turned her head. "And while we're on that subject would you care to explain who they are? You said something about owing Jellal your life, but I'm confused, if he's so important why have you never told me about him?"

Wendy lifted her head and offered Carla a sad smile. "It's nothing personal. It just never came up." She turned her head to look back at the sunset. "I met Garion a few days ago while I was shopping in Magnolia." Her smile grew a bit and she flushed ever so slightly. "He almost scared me to death by accident, but he helped me get something that was at the top of a shelf." Her smile grew even more. "He was so nice and friendly... he even invited me to look at his guild..."

Carla raised an eyebrow. "Did he? Odd, he barely knew you yet had already invited you to visit his guild..."

"I didn't mind... I felt... even though I'd just met him... we were already good friends..." Her smile grew a bit more, the warmth in her chest still faint but present.

Carla narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. _Interesting..._ "And what of Jellal? How did you meet him?"

The warmth inside Wendy's chest faded, but the smile remained. "I met him... seven years ago... not long after the sky dragon Grandeeney disappeared..."

And so Wendy explained to her closest friend how she had met 'Jellal' not long after Grandeeney had 'disappeared' and all the events that had transpired afterwards. How they'd travelled together, the hardships they endured, how 'Jellal' had cared for her and taken care of her, and eventually how he'd started acting strange and distant, and eventually left Wendy. Her smile had faded as she reached the end of her tale.

"When we got beyond the forest, he left me with the Cait Shelter guild. I've been there ever since."

Carla gave Wendy a sympathetic look. "So... what happened to him after you parted ways?"

"That was the last time I ever saw him." Wendy lifted her head to look out at the horizon. "But I did hear rumours now and then. First people said there was a council member who looked like him, and the most recent ones were all about how he was doing these incredibly evil deeds."

"Hmm..." Carla looked back towards the horizon.

Wendy smiled. "So silly. He'd never think about doing such horrible things. I wonder... do you think he remembers me any more?"

"Of course he would child. If he is as kind as you make him out to be, there is no doubt in my mind he wouldn't forget who you are. Of course, considering you had to revive him, he may be suffering from amnesia."

Wendy gave a nod in reply. Her eyes drifted down to the river that was visible in the forest below, taking in the glinting surface as it reflected the glow of the sun, small waves disturbing the surface to give the light a simmering look. Her eyes trailed to the body floating in the-

She blinked. The sky dragon slayer bolted to her feet and her eyes widened. "No..." She breathed. Carla looked at her in alarm.

"What is it Wendy?" Carla asked, alarmed.

"Carla!" The girl spun to face her. "We need to get down there now!"

"W-Why? Child you're not making any sense-"

"It's Garion Carla! He's floating in the river!"

The Exceed looked down at the river and her eyes fell upon the body floating on its back, mouth open. She had to squint to identify Garion. "How are you sure?" She asked.

"I can see it Carla!" Wendy said, panic settling in. The Exceed gave her a look. _Looks like not only her hearing and sense of smell are improved, I can barely make out who that is yet she's convinced it's Garion._ Aware however, that _someone_ was floating in the river and likely in mortal danger, she spread her wings and flew forwards, grabbing the back of Wendy's dress. She angled herself downwards, straight towards the body floating in the water, which suddenly lost all buoyancy and sunk beneath the surface.

"Carla!"

"I know!"

Going as fast as she could, Carla managed to cover the distance between the pair and the boy in a matter of seconds, and barely managed to slow them down to avoid having a painful crash, but they still hit the surface at a mild speed, sending water splashing everywhere.

* * *

 _An eight year old Garion took a bite out of the apple in his hand, a soft crunch sounding as he did so. He lowered his thin arm as he chewed on the green fruit, and idly looked around the guildhall, his shoulder length messy, sandy blond hair swaying as he moved his head. His dirty brown shirt and stained dark green pants hung on his frame, a size too big for the boy. His shoes lacked laces, and were a dry brown. At a passing glance, Garion looked a lot like a girl._

 _His light blue eyes returned to the fruit in his hand once he swallowed and he took another bite before returning to looking around. The guild was up to its usual antics, Natsu and Gray were engaged in an all out brawl with each other with several other members cheering them on, Erza was on the verge of all out war with Mira, Lisanna was sitting at a table with Happy and was teaching him about the guild, the world, who the people in the guild were, etc._

 _"Hello!"_

 _Garion turned to the right, his mouth frozen on the apple. Standing next to the table was a girl about a head taller than him with wavy shoulder length blue hair. She had a bright smile on her face, and Garion couldn't help but smile back.  
_

 _"Hi."  
_

 _"What's your name?" The girl asked.  
_

 _"Garion." The boy replied. "And yours?"_

 _The girl frowned. "Garion? Are... you a boy?" She asked, sounding a little confused. Garion blinked._

 _"Yes." He frowned. "Why?"_

 _The girl blinked and raised her arms. "Oh nothing! It's just... I thought you were a girl." The bluenette said, scratching the back of her head. "Oh my name's Levy! Levy McGarden! Nice to meet you Garion!" She said cheerfully. Garion smiled.  
_

 _"Nice to meet you Levy." The boy happily said. The bluenette then looked around before frowning and returning her gaze to the boy in front of her._

 _"Why are you sitting over here on your own?" Levy asked. Garion blinked and looked down at the floor, his smile fading._

 _"Because... I... I'm... scared..."_

 _Levy blinked and then frowned, sitting down next to Garion. "Why?"_

 _"Because... I'm scared... of lots of people..." The boy said nervously. "And... I can't control my magic... and I don't like it when people see it..."_

 _Levy opened her mouth to speak but the words never left her lips. Garion's pure white angel wings sprouted from his back, but they lacked the guild mark. Garion looked at Levy and his eyes widened when he saw the look of amazement on her face. He jumped off the bench and tried to run away, but Levy managed to clasp a hand onto his shoulder before he could escape. "Why are yo-" She started._

 _"No!" Garion tried to break free of Levy's grip, but the girl managed to hold on. "L-Let me g-go!" The boy whined. Levy frowned and pulled on Garion's shoulder, making him spin around to face her.  
_

 _"Why are you trying to run away?" She asked, confused. Garion looked away from her towards the floor, and tried to hide his wings, his whole body tensing up._

 _"B-Because... I... I'm... weird..." The boy stammered out. Levy blinked in confusion and frowned._

 _"What do you mean you're weird?" She asked. Garion tensed up even further._

 _"B-Because... I've... got... w-w-wings..." He whispered. "A-And... n-no one else does..." Levy blinked and then her eyes widened in realisation._

 _"You think that they'll treat you differently." Levy deduced. "Either that or you're worried they won't want to be your friends." Garion tensed up even further, but then he slumped his shoulders. Levy gasped when she saw tears staining his eyes when he lifted his head to look at her._

 _"Y-Yeah..." He sniffed. "I... just want to... be friends with everyone... but they don't want to be friends... with someone who's got wings..." He said as he struggled to hold back his tears, his body now starting to shake. The two were unaware that Makarov had casted his eyes over to them and was watching intently._

 _"W-Why would they?" Levy asked, placing a hand on Garion's shoulder. The boy flinched at the contact but didn't move._

 _"B-Because... I... I..." Garion's shaking started to get worse. "I... I'm the only one with... wings..."_

 _"And?" Levy asked in a kind voice. Garion blinked in confusion. "That just means you're unique! Not weird! It means you're special Garion, and I doubt anyone here will think of you, or does think of you differently because you have wings." She then pointed at Happy. "Besides, he has wings and everyone treats him as a friend!"_

 _"B... But..." Garion's shaking had faded, and he was now more confused than anything. "H-He's a cat..." He said weakly._

 _Levy suddenly burst out laughing. Garion gave her the most confused look he could manage. "W-What's so f-funny?" The boy asked. Levy looked at him, and couldn't help but laugh again._

 _"I... I'm just... I'm just so sorry..." She said, now calmed down. She smiled at the boy. "You do know that makes him weirder than you right?" The girl asked. Garion blinked and realisation dawned on his face._

 _"Oh..."_

 _Levy chuckled again. "Silly, no one's going to think differently of you because you have a pair of wings! And I actually think they're really cool!" The girl said cheerfully. Garion's mouth fell open and he stared at her._

 _"R-Really?" He whispered. Levy nodded an affirmative._

 _"Definitely. Don't be ashamed of something that makes yo-agh!" Levy was taken off-guard when Garion suddenly threw his arms around her and gave her a massive hug. Once she recovered, she hugged the boy back. She patted his back. "Hey..." Garion broke the hug and grinned at her, a massive smile of pure joy._

 _"Thanks Levy! You're the best!" He said cheerfully. Levy smiled and chuckled._

 _"I'm really not. I'm just being your friend, and friends always help each other out." She then wrinkled her nose._

 _Garion smelled._

 _Really bad._

 _"Um... when was the last time you had a bath?" She asked. The boy blinked._

 _"Um... er..." He suddenly looked very sheepish._

 _"Don't worry about it Levy. He's my responsibility, and it's my fault he hasn't been bathed."_

 _The two turned to the source of the voice, and immediately tensed up when they saw it was Makarov._

 _"M-Master! I d-didn't-" Levy stared. The wizard saint raised his right hand to stop her mid sentence._

 _"Have no fear Levy, I had been watching for quite a while in fact." He lowered his arm and grinned at the blue haired girl. "My thanks for finally talking some sense into the boy. I tried, but he only seemed to be able to accept it if it was someone aside from the master who told him." He turned to the boy and adopted a serious look. "As Levy said, you have no reason to fear that others will think differently of you because of your magic my boy. Magic has many, many wide and wonderful forms that it comes in, and yours is merely another stripe of the rainbow. And yes, your wings are because of your magic. Once you learn to control it, you can control them as well." He smiled. "Who knows? You may even learn how to fly_ _, and without crashing into the ground moments later_ _. And that is a feat that very few can claim to be able to do."_

 _"M-Master..." Garion breathed. The wizard saint laid a hand to rest on the boys shoulder.  
_

 _"Garion. As your guild master, I hereby order you to make friends with as many people in the guild as you can. Is that clear?" Makarov said seriously. Garion quickly nodded._

 _"Y-Yes sir!" Makarov looked at him for a moment longer before he smiled.  
_

 _"Glad to hear it, now... you definitely need a bath." The master gave him a once over. "And some new clothes."  
_

 _"Um... master?" Levy asked. "May I ask something?"_

 _"Of course. What is it you require?"_

 _"Well... not so much require..." She looked at Garion and smiled. "May I... take care of Garion? I-I'm sure the responsibilities of being the guild maste-"_

 _Makarov chuckled, interrupting her. "Of course you may my girl!" He said. "I'd be more than happy to let you take care of him. After all, I've hardly been doing a good job now have I?"_

 _Garion was looking between the two, now even more confused. "Um... excuse me... but master... what's going on?" He asked, tilting his head to the side._

 _"From now on Levy will be helping you get clothes, food, clean yourself and cut your hair, instead of me." The guild master patted Garion on the head. "Have no fear my boy, I will still be here should you ever need me. Remember, I always keep the door to my office open for my children." And with that, the guild master turned and walked off, his course set for Natsu and Gray who were starting to get out of hand. Levy turned to Garion, a little bit unsure as to what to do now. Remembering the last thing Makarov said, she took Garion's hand and started leading him out the hall, a plan already forming in her mind as to how she would take care of the boy._

 _"Where are we going?" The boy asked, curious. Levy smiled back at him._

 _"To get you a hair cut."_

* * *

The first thing Garion did when he regained consciousness was cough violently. His chest ached, and not only where he'd been injured by Caelum. His lungs burned, and his whole body convulsed violently as he coughed to try and remove the fluid from his lungs. He became aware that his side was against the ground after a few moments, but paid it no attention. With one final painful retching, he expelled the last of the fluid trapped in his lungs from out of his mouth, sending it splashing against the grimy dirt. He gave another violent cough, as a precautionary measure, before collapsing onto the flat of his back. His chest was heaving, and he slowly creaked his eyes open.

He heard a sigh of relief come from his left and slowly turned his head to the source of the noise. His eyes widened when he saw Wendy sitting on her knees, panting heavily. The front of her dress was soaked, along with a large amount of her hair, water dripping from the tips. Her head was tilted downwards and her eyes were closed, but Garion could see the relief on her face. He opened his mouth to speak but before any words left his mouth the sky maiden lifted her head and opened her eyes before looking at Garion's face. She breathed another sigh of relief before she grew worried.

"Are you okay?" She asked, concern and worry in her voice. "We found you in the river, and were barely able to pull you out. What happened?"

Garion's mouth was still open, but he closed it without thinking. He suddenly started before bolting upright, only to collapse onto his back as he did so, letting out a shallow whimper. He clutched his chest where he'd been shot and let out a hiss of pain. "Agh... fight... with... Oracion Seis..." he grunted.

Wendy blinked before leaning forwards, her arms outstretched. "Here..." she stopped just before her hands reached Garion's chest. "I can heal your wound and stop it from hurting any more."

Garion blinked before nodding. He slowly removed his hand from his injury, and Wendy gasped at the damage. The bruise covered most of his upper left chest, and was quite bad. She looked up at him, concern laced into her features. "W-What... H-How did you get an injury like this!?" She asked, worry and a slight amount of fear in her voice. She immediately activated her magic and began healing him, her hands mere inches above his chest.

"Got hit... by attack from... a member of the Oracion Seis..." He said. He could already feel the pain lessening, and the bruise was clearing up remarkably quickly. Yet as Wendy said, there was no pain, only an odd, yet nice tingling sensation as his body was repaired. The girl now had a determined look on her face as she was healing Garion. Carla, who'd been standing watch, turned around to look at the pair.

"Be careful to not overexert yourself child." She warned. "You need to conserve your energy to heal others as well."

"I know Carla." Wendy said, giving a quick nod of her head. After a few more moments, she cancelled her magic and leaned back, lifting her arm to wipe at her forehead, exhausted yet bearing a sense of accomplishment. Garion sat up and looked at his chest in amazement before gingerly lifting his hands to gently poke at the spot where his wound had previously been. Carla walked over and stood next to Wendy, her eyes on the dual element wizard.

"It's gone..." He whispered. "And it doesn't even hurt any more... it's like it was never even there..." Garion's voice was filled with awe. Not only had his injury been healed, but all exhaustion had been purged from his body. He felt like he'd just woken up from a really good sleep.

"See child?" Carla said, speaking in a somewhat reassuring tone. "If you hadn't been here, there wouldn't have been anyone able to save Garion."

Wendy glanced at her closest friend before lowering her head. "Yeah..." She said weakly as she looked at the ground.

"You're amazing Wendy..." Garion said, nothing but sincere honest in his voice. Wendy's head snapped up to look at the boy and her eyes widened as a blush exploded across her cheeks.

"W-What!? I... I..." The girl stammered nervously, having absolutely no idea how to reply to Garion's compliment. However, her heart fluttered for the briefest of moments. "I... I... n-no... b-but I d-didn't... really do much..." She said, not looking directly at Garion. Carla looked at her before letting out a sigh.

"What am I going to do with you child?" She asked with a hint of exasperation. Wendy suddenly slumped to the right, her arms outstretched to keep her from falling to the ground. Garion and Carla's heads snapped around to look at her, worry etched into their features.

"Are you okay?" Garion asked quickly, leaning forwards. Wendy looked at him and tried to smile.

"I... I...m fine..." She said. Garion narrowed his eyes.

"You're running low on magic power." He said. "Here." He extended his hand towards her. "I can give you some of my magic power to help." Wendy looked down at his hand before looking back at his face.

"You can transfer your own magic power to other people?" She asked, curiosity in her voice. She'd never heard of anyone who was able to do that. Garion nodded. Carla raised an eyebrow. _Indeed... what an interesting ability..._

"I did it earlier after we rescued you to try and help you wake up." The dual element wizard explained. "I can do it again now to help with your exhaustion." He smiled. "It won't take long."

"But what about you?" Wendy asked. "Won't that leave you just as tired as I am?" Garion shook his head.

"I actually have a large reserve of magic power, apparently." He explained. "Well... from what Levy tells me anyway, and that I seem to get it all back quite quickly too." The boy tilted his head. "So may I?" Wendy looked down at his hand and then back up at him.

"O-Okay." She said a tad bit nervously. Garion reached out and gently took hold of her wrist, prompting Wendy's heart to pound just a little bit louder. Garion frowned in concentration, and his wings appeared as he began the process. Wendy felt a steady flow of power from Garion to her start, and she felt slightly alarmed at how much he was giving her. After 10 seconds, he dispelled his wings and abruptly stopped the transfer. He lifted his head.

"There." He said with a smile. "All done. How are you feeling?" The boy asked. Wendy frowned slightly.

"I feel... fine!" She said. "It's as if I never even healed you. All my energy is back!" Her eyes widened slightly and she looked at Garion. "Thanks Garion!" She said, managing a smile. The boy's smile grew.

"It's the least I could do after you saved my life." He said. Wendy looked down and felt heat rise in her cheeks when she realised Garion was still holding onto her wrist.

"U-Um... Garion?"

"Yeah?"

"You're still... er..." She looked away bashfully. "Holding my wrist..." Garion blinked before looking down, and his eyes widened when he saw that he indeed was still holding her wrist.

For the first time in his life, Garion blushed because of physical contact with a girl. "S-Sorry!" He said nervously, quickly withdrawing her hand, yet an infinitesimally small part of him was a bit disappointed he'd had to let go. And for the briefest of moments, Garion's heart fluttered with a strange, yet not unpleasant warmth that was... rather nice...

"I-It's fine..." Wendy said. Where Garion had been holding her wrist now had an odd warmth present, it wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't something she'd ever felt before. Carla suddenly cleared her throat loudly, drawing the attention of the two.

"If you two are done we have more pressing matters to attend to." She said, inclining her head towards the beam of light being produced by Nirvana, which had now turned white. "For instance, finding the others and stopping Nirvana." Garion and Wendy glanced at each other before they looked at Carla and nodded, both of them adopting determined expressions.

"Right." Wendy said, getting to her feet. Garion also rose to his feet.

"Yeah." He said. Carla then noticed the gaping hole in his shirt, and the sorry state of his clothing.

"I don't know if you've noticed Garion but your clothes aren't in very good condition." She said. Garion looked down and examined himself. After a few moments, he pulled his arms into his shirt and simply turned it backwards, the hole now over his right shoulder blade.

"Best I can do for now." He said. He took a step forward and sharply looked down when he heard his shoes squelch from the water trapped inside them. His determined expression faded and was replaced with one of minor disgust.

"Ew..." He said, the feeling of his feet encased in soggy shoes hardly a pleasant one.

"Well we don't have time for you to find a replacement set of shoes so you'll just have to deal with them for now." Carla said. She turned towards the pillar and activated her Aera magic and took off, and Garion and Wendy started following her as she headed in the direction of the pillar, the unpleasant sound of wet shoes filling the air each time Garion took a step. The discomfort was clear on his face, but he didn't say anything about it.

As they walked Wendy found herself glancing frequently at Garion and quickly looking away before he noticed. Despite barely having known each other for a day, Wendy felt like they were good friends already, but that wasn't why she was glancing at the boy so much. She was doing that because she was curious about Garion's magic. She'd never seen wings like the ones he had, and whilst Carla's look similar, she got the feeling that Garion's wings were more than just what they seemed to be. She wanted to ask him about them, but she couldn't muster the courage to do it, and she knew that there wasn't much time for conversation.

But she, in actuality, _wanted_ to talk to him and not just walk to Nirvana in silence. So instead, she asked the first non-wing related question that came to mind.

"Where is your guild mark?" Wendy asked. Remembering that Garion had his guild mark in the middle of his wings, she felt embarrassment flush her cheeks and was about to speak but then he answered her.

"Here." He said, pointing to just under his collarbone on the right. "It points towards my heart, because Fairy Tail always is, and always will be in my heart, wherever I go." He explained with a smile.

"What colour is it?" The sky maiden asked.

"Light blue, just like my wings." Garion said.

"Why do you have your guild mark on your wings?" Wendy asked out of simple curiosity.

"I figured out I could change how my wings looked a few years ago, and I just put the guild mark on it since Fairy Tail is so cool!" The boy said excitedly. He turned his head and beamed at Wendy. "It's such a cool guild, I really want to show you what it's like!"

"Humph." Carl said, glancing back at the two. "I certainly hope Gray and Natsu are special cases in your guild. I can't imagine a guild full of people like them being able to function." Garion tilted his head as he looked at Carla.

"There's nothing wrong with Natsu and Gray." He said with a frown.

"Oh yes, certainly not." Carla said sarcastically. Garion looked up at the pillar of light and frowned as they walked.

"It's weird..." He said. "Even though I can't sense that far... I can tell Nirvana is giving off light energy instead of dark energy now..." His frown deepened. "But somehow... it still feels... evil..." Wendy and Carla shared a glance before they looked at Garion.

"Anything else you can tell us about it?" Wendy asked.

"It's... odd... the light magic feels just like other light magic but different... I can't explain how..." Garion looked at Wendy and Carla. "Can either of you sense i-" His eyes suddenly widened and he looked back at the pillar.

"What's wrong?" Wendy asked worriedly.

"The power... it's rising!" Garion said, fear in his voice. Carla and Wendy both gave Garion and each other worried looks, but before they could ask him anything the pillar's light increased in intensity and it grew in width. Garion, Wendy and Carla all looked at the pillar with fear and worry. "S-so much power!"

"A-Are we too late?" Wendy asked. Moments later, the ground began to shake violently as Nirvana began to awaken. Unfortunately, Garion, Wendy and Carla were standing atop one of its legs, and the three were hurled into the air as the leg burst free of the ground. Garion managed to stabilise himself in mid-air after a few seconds, Wendy was hurled into the air and screamed in freight until Carla managed to get a hold of her. Garion looked up as the leg rose into the air, and was barely able to dodge a chunk of falling earth. Thinking quickly, he flapped his wings and shot above the rising leg.

"Carla!" Wendy cried in relief.

"Don't worry I've got you!" Carla said reassuringly.

"Thanks!" Wendy said gratefully. Carla lifted the girl above the falling debris to where it was safe.

"Look over there!" Garion yelled, pointing towards a structure in the distance.

"What is it?" Wendy asked, squinting to try and see through the dust cloud.

"Could that be...?" Carla asked, fear in her voice. Garion glided over to the pair from Cait Shelter.

"Are you two all right?" He asked. The pair looked at him. Wendy nodded but offered a smile, Carla simply nodded before returning her attention to the massive structure in front of them. The trio let out gasps of shock when they took in just how massive of a structure Nirvana was. "T-That's Nirvana?" Garion asked. "It's huge!"

"Certainly." Carla said, not hiding her surprise.

"Carla, we're going up there." Wendy said in a determined voice. The white furred Exceed looked down at the girl she was holding.

"What are you talking about child? We can't go there! We don't know what kind of danger may await us!" Carla rebuked.

"We have to!" Wendy replied, more determination in her voice. "Carla, the others could be up there and might need our help!"

"Wendy is right." The two looked at Garion, determination mixed with a little fear visible on his face. "I still can't sense anything far away, but I just feel like Erza, Natsu, Gray, Lucy and the others are on there." He looked at Nirvana before looking back at the two. The dual element wizard then smiled, but the look of determination was still on his face. "Our friends might need our help, and we have to help them!" He said.

Wendy nodded with determination. "Yeah. We have to do whatever we can to help." She looked back at Nirvana. "Come on Carla, we need to get over there!"

"Very well." The Exceed replied, but she sounded oddly suspicious. The trio began flying towards the massive structure, Garion in front. After a minute of flying, it was becoming clear that Carla was beginning to struggle with carrying Wendy. She did her best to hide it from the sky dragon slayer, but when she suddenly dipped, Wendy couldn't help but notice.

"Carla! Are you alright?" She asked panickingly.

"I'm... fine child... just... a bit hard... to... keep moving..." She said between breaths. Thankfully she was able to hold on, as the trio reached Nirvana just before Carla's wings gave out.

The Exceed fell over forwards, panting heavily. Wendy and Garion crouched down next to her, concern on their faces.

"I'm sorry that was so hard." Wendy said apologetically. "I wish I could help out more."

"It's no matter child we're here, and in one piece. Mostly." Carla said as she slowly got up.

"I can give you some magic power if you need it." Garion offered. Carla shook her head.

"That won't be necessary Garion." She replied. The Exceed then looked at Wendy. "But now that we've arrived what is it exactly that you plan to do?" She asked. Garion blinked and looked between the two, growing confused when he saw Wendy look away in shame. "You're trying to find Jellal up here aren't you?"

"I'm not!" Wendy snapped, looking back at Carla.

"Truthfully?" The Exceed asked, giving Wendy an almost sympathetic look. Wendy started but then looked away, raising a hand to her face which had a somewhat embarrassed look on it.

"Well... in a way I guess I am sort of." She said. The sky maiden then looked around at Nirvana. "But... this thing does have to be stopped... and now that we're here maybe there's something we can do to make that happen."

"Yeah!" Garion said enthusiastically. Carla gave a small smile and looked away.

"Maybe..." She said. Wendy then gave a happy smile which changed to a look of confusion when she saw the look of horror on Carla's face. Garion too was confused.

"Is something the matter?" Wendy asked. Carla didn't reply and simply got to her feet. She then slowly walked forwards.

"I don't know... I could be wrong..." The Exceed said. "Please don't tell me it's going where I think it is..." she said as she stopped at the edge of Nirvana, which was now on the move. Garion and Wendy moved up next to her, both looking confused.

"What do you mean?" Wendy asked, panicked. "Where do you think it's going?"

"If it continues to travel in the same course it is now... then very soon... it'll trample right over the home of the Cait Shelter guild." Carla said. Both Garion and Wendy were shocked as they looked out across the landscape that Nirvana was moving over.

"T-That can't be..." Wendy muttered. "Then that means... everyone at the guild... they won't..." She raised her hands to her face in shock.

"Then we have to stop this thing fast!" Garion said. Wendy and Carla looked at him and nodded, but Wendy was still shaking a bit.

"Agreed. We need to meet up with the others and work out a plan to stop Nirvana." Carla said, standing up. She jerked her head towards the city. "Let us hurry! Time is of the essence!" Garion nodded but glanced at Wendy, who too offered a quick, but nervous, nod. The group set off into the ruined city in search for their allies.

Along the way, Garion noticed the worried look on Wendy's face. "You're worried about your guild right?" He asked quietly. She nodded, her body still shaking a little bit.

"I really hope we can find a way to stop Nirvana... because otherwise... my guild... is in serious trouble..." The sky maiden said with fear in her voice.

"We will." Garion said with determination. "I may not be able to actually fight anyone in the Seis... but Wendy..." The sky maiden looked at him with slightly wide eyes. "We will stop Nirvana destroying your guild and hurting your friends." He gave her a comforting smile. "That's a promise." The boy said with a reassuring nod.

"T-Thanks Garion." Wendy said, giving the boy a small smile. His smile grew in response, and Wendy felt a little more at ease all of a sudden, the faint warmth fluttering in her heart again. A small part of her wondered what the feeling was, but it was pushed to the back of her mind due to the situation at hand.

Yet in Garion's heart, the same warmth had fluttered for the briefest of moments upon seeing Wendy's smile.

But all that could wait for later, as time was running short for the Cait Shelter guild, and each second wasted was one less in which the guild could be saved.

* * *

 **Sorry this is late, exams started and I've been kinda busy studying, so I kinda forgot to write for this. Anyway, bit of fluff, and Wendy and Garion have one on one chats again! Anyway, the next chapter will come out much earlier in the month, I promise. I feel guilty for not getting this done sooner, but I can make it up by getting the next one done as quickly as I can!**

 **So anyway, for those of you up to date with the manga, here's my reaction to the most recent chapter at time of writing (Chapter 487):**

 **YES YES YES YES YES YES YES! FINALLY! HALLELUJAH, THANK YOU HIRO! NOW DON'T GO AND BE A D*** AND RUIN IT!**

 **Okay that's done. So thank you all so much for reading, please drop a review telling me what you thought, and I'll be sure to see you in the next chapter!**

 **Adios!**


	10. Nirvana falls

**Yes the chapter name isn't that creative. It was the best I could come up with. And I'm very sorry the chapter is so late, I had exams... then I got Overwatch... and it all went downhill from there... Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own FT**

* * *

"This way!" Garion said as he turned a corner, Wendy and Carla running close behind him. The trio had been running through the maze of Nirvana's city for some time now, and were beginning to worry that they would never find their allies. Nirvana was still emitting enormous amounts of magic power, making it impossible for Garion to reliably sense anything further than 10 meters away. But the young wizard had sensed a very faint spike of familiar power near the central tower and was hoping that whoever had caused it hadn't left the area.

"Gyah!" Wendy cried as her foot got stuck on a small rock, causing her to trip and face plant onto the floor. Both Garion and Carla came to a screeching halt and spun around, worry evident on their features. "Ow..." the blue haired girl said as she got up.

"Wendy are you alright?" Garion asked, kneeling down next to the sky dragon slayer. Wendy gave a quick nod.

"Y-Yeah I'm fine." She said. "Sorry..."

"Goodness child, you could stand to be a bit less clumsy." Carla remarked. "You seem to have a knack for falling over."

"I'm sorry!" Wendy said, feeling slightly embarrassed. "I-It's not my fault!"

"Oh yes certainly not, it's the rock's fault for teleporting in front of your foot." The Exceed remarked dryly. Garion frowned.

"Rocks can't teleport." He said matter-of-factly. Carla gave Garion a sideways glance.

"It was an expression Garion." She said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"I don't get it." Garion replied, furrowing his brow further. The white furred Exceed rolled her eyes before refocusing on Wendy.

"We need to keep moving." She said. The two young wizards nodded in reply and the trio set off again into the maze of Nirvana. Eventually they rounded a corner and caught sight of Gray, Lucy and Jura.

"Hey guys!" Garion and Wendy shouted, getting the attention of Gray and Lucy.

"Garion?" Gray asked.

"Wendy!" Lucy said.

"Just as I thought, only those hooligans would cause such a ruckus." Carla said disdainfully.

"Carla!" Happy cried cheerfully, forcing himself up before his arms gave out and he collapsed again.

"We're in trouble!" Wendy said in a panicking voice as she came to a halt in front of the others. "I think this city is headed straight toward my guild for some reason!"

"Yeah! And we need to find a way to stop it and fast!" Garion said in an equally panicked voice as he stopped next to Wendy.

"Don't worry everything's gonna be okay." Gray said, turning to look at Brain, who was lying unconscious on the ground next to them. Wendy and Garion blinked at the ice wizard before turning their heads to look at Brain. Both of them visibly recoiled and let out gasps of surprise upon seeing the leader of the Oracion seis upon the ground. "His buddy the snake charmer is lying right over there." Gray added, turning his head to look at Cobra.

"Wow..." Wendy said in relief and amazement. Garion however was looking at Brain, a strange look on the boy's face.

"From what we can gather, this creepy Brain guy has also been the one controlling Nirvana." Lucy explained. She then turned her head to look at Brain. "And now that he's out cold..." She stopped speaking when she saw the look on Garion's face. "Garion?" The celestial wizard asked. "Is something wrong?" Garion's head whipped up and he looked at Lucy.

"Oh... I... it's just..." The dual element wizard looked down at Brian. "He knows about my parents."

Lucy, Wendy, Gray, Jura and even Carla stared at the boy wide eyed before they looked down at Brain. "What does he know?" Jura asked.

"W-What happened to them... and where they are..." Garion felt dread fill his heart. "He said... he said... they saved me from him... but paid for it in the end..." The boy started to shake a bit. "I-I don't know w-what that means... b-but I don't think it's good..."

Jura gave Lucy and Gray a grave look which said he had a very clear idea of what exactly Brain had meant by that statement, but he wasn't sure if Garion could handle the truth. Lucy and Gray both replied with shocked looks, and both of them turned their heads to look at Garion. Carla's eyes widened when it clicked in her mind what Brain had meant, and she gave Garion a sharp and almost worried look. Much like Garion, Wendy didn't catch the meaning behind what Brain had said, confusion present on her face.

Now there was an elephant in the metaphorical room. Who would tell Garion the truth? And should he be told?

Before anyone could make a decision, a loud moan drew everyone's attention. "Guys please... stop this thing..." Natsu said weakly, his whole body shaking from motion sickness. The sudden realisation of Natsu's presence shattered the uneasy silence that had been hanging over the group.

"Oh you poor guy! Have you been poisoned too?" Wendy asked, looking at Natsu with concern. Lucy and Gray just shook their heads. Gray then looked at Garion, who was now staring down at the ground. He took a step forward and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, causing him to look up at the ice wizard.

"We'll be sure to interrogate this jerk after we've stopped Nirvana to find out what he knows about your parents." Gray said reassuringly. Garion stared at Gray for a few seconds before he nodded.

 ***Top of Nirvana's central tower***

The assembled coalition wizards all looked around the top of the tower. Jura, Lucy and Gray were near the middle whilst Garion was standing near Wendy who was using her magic on Natsu.

"Now I'm totally confused." Gray said as he looked around.

"No joke me too." Lucy said as she looked around. Jura grunted in annoyance and narrowed his eyes.

"You would think there would be some kind of control panel or something up here." Gray said.

"Right." Lucy agreed. "So how are we supposed to stop this thing?" She asked. Jura grinded his teeth as he looked around in frustration.

"Man this sucks!" Gray said. "I was almost positive that once we beat Brain this hunk of junk would stop moving."

"I was too. But now he's out cold so we can't even ask him about it." Lucy added.

"What do we do? I cast a spell to counteract the venom but he's still sick..." Wendy said, frowning as she looked at Natsu.

"Natsu and vehicles don't seem to mix all too well." Happy explained. Carla's eyebrows twitched violently in annoyance.

"That is so pathetic!" She declared with annoyance in her voice.

"I really don't think my stomach wants to be inside me anymore..." Natsu whined.

"It's motion sickness?" Wendy asked, looking at Happy. The Exceed nodded.

"Always!" He said in an oddly cheerful voice.

"In that case..." Wendy reached out and placed her hands on the sides of Natsu's head. Garion leaned forward with interest as he wanted to see more of Wendy's sky magic. "I'll cast a spell that restores his sense of balance." The sky maiden's hands glowed as they touched Natsu's face. "Troia!" Natsu's sick expression faded instantly, and he blinked before he cheerfully leapt into the air.

"YEAH! I'M BACK!" The fire dragon slayer exclaimed cheerfully. "Oh I feel a million times better!"

"I'm glad!" Wendy said with a smile. "I thought that might work."

"Oh you're a life saver Wendy!" Natsu said cheerfully. "Hey you gotta teach me that spell sometime!"

"But... it's my sky magic..." Wendy turned away from Natsu. "Sorry..." Garion walked up next to the sky maiden.

"You really are amazing..." The boy said without thinking. Wendy snapped her head to the left to look at him. The girl's eyes widened and a blush exploded onto her cheeks. Yet again, her heart fluttered for a few moments, the odd warmth a surprisingly pleasant feeling.

"I... I... N-No..." Wendy looked away from the boy. "N-No I'm not..." She said weakly. Before Garion could say anything Gray started speaking.

"We gotta figure out how to stop this thing." The ice wizard said seriously. "And there's obviously nothing up here that'll help us do that."

"I don't get it, I thought this is where Hoteye-I mean Richard said Brain was controlling it." Lucy said. "Was he lying?"

"No I believe him to be a man of his word." Jura said sternly.

"There is a much more pertinent question at hand, or should I say a different way the question on how to stop it should be phrased." Carla said, walking up to the front of the group. "There are no visible controls, the royal throne is empty, and the one presumed to be piloting it has been defeated. So perhaps instead we should ask: Why is it still functioning the same as it was before?" Carla asked.

"Do you think he's might have put it on auto pilot?" Gray asked, alarmed. "If that's the case it could be programmed to fire too!" Wendy started shaking as tears began to well up in her eyes. She raised her hands to her face, and started sobbing as despair took hold of her heart.

"Our poor guild is in trouble..." She said between sobs. Before her crying could get any worse, a comforting hand came to rest on her shoulder. When she turned her head, she found herself looking into two light blue eyes that, whilst not lacking fear, were filled with determination.

"Remember my promise Wendy?" Garion asked. The sky maiden slowly nodded. "I'm going to keep it. No matter what, I won't let Nirvana hurt your friends. I'll do everything I can to stop it." He said seriously. Wendy stared at him for a few moments before she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"T-thanks Garion." She said, giving the boy a small smile. Garion's determined expression phased into a smile of his own.

"It's what friends do." He said. The two then looked at each other for several moments before they both sharply looked away as they realised they were staring, both of them with faint blushes on their cheeks.

"So if there isn't a pilot seat or control panel where we can stop this thing what are we going to do?" Happy asked.

"Destroy it of course." Natsu said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Lucy sweatdropped.

"Leave it to us to demolish a city right?" She asked sarcastically.

"Not to sound pessimistic but, that's a pretty tall order!" Gray exclaimed.

"Before that, we should see if Brain knows how to stop Nirvana." Jura suggested.

"I doubt that brute would share such information with us." Carla said.

"If he won't tell us, maybe Jellal will know." Wendy muttered. As her recent memories of the blue haired wizard flashed through her mind she gasped.

"Are you alright?" Garion asked, looking at her with a slightly worried expression.

"Think of something that'll help?" Gray asked. Wendy turned away and held her hands up in front of her face.

"Well... I'm not quite sure..." She said. "But it may be the best option we have so I'll do my best to find it." The blue haired girl then turned and started running towards one of the pillars that contained a staircase. Carla immediately took flight to follow her.

"Wendy!" The Exceed exclaimed. "Where are you going child?"

"Wendy!?" Garion shouted, clearly confused.

"She sure is determined." Lucy commented and Jura gave a nod in agreement. Garion started running towards the pillar after Wendy.

"Hey!" Gray shouted, slightly annoyed that everyone was suddenly running away.

 _"My friends, can you hear me?"_ A voice echoed in all their minds, causing Garion to come to a screeching halt and start looking around in alarm. " _It is I, the wizard known as Hoteye."_

"You guys hear that too or am I going crazy?" Lucy asked, sounding panicked.

"I heard it!" Natsu said.

"Did you defeat Midnight Richard?" Jura asked.

 _"I tried my best, but in the end it seems my magic simply wasn't strong enough to trump his."_ 'Hoteye' explained. " _Do not concern yourself with my rescue, you must work together to bring Midnight down for good! If you succeed in defeating him, Nirvana's source of magic power will be rendered dry, and the city will cease in it's destructive path!"_

"Am I supposed to know this guy?" Natsu asked with an extremely confused expression on his face, one which was shared by Garion.

"So we can stop Nirvana without destroying the whole thing?" Gray asked.

"Aaaahahah..." Happy suddenly 'said'.

" _He's directly below you, just outside the royal throne! His power is not one to be underestimated!"_ 'Hoteye' elaborated. _"Please be cautious my friends!"_

"The same to you Richard!" Jura said.

"What are we waiting for?" Lucy asked.

"Nice! This mess just got a whole lot easier!" Gray said with a smirk.

"I'm all fired up now!" Natsu declared in his usual manner. "We're coming for ya sleepy head!"

"Wait... if he's just outside..." Garion's eyes widened. "Wendy and Carla could run straight into him!" The boy spun around to face the group. As they processed what he had said, all their expressions turned grave.

"If that's the case then we must move quickly!" Jura then started running towards one of the staircases. "With me!"

 _"Only one of the six prayers still remains on the battlefield. Every ounce of my trust and confidence belongs to you my friends! Defeat Midnight, and stop Nirvana once and for all! Oh yeah! I wish you luck... my faithful comrades..."_ 'Hoteye's' voice faded out of the minds of the group as they descended the stairs at a rapid pace with Garion in the lead. A door came into view.

"He should be through there!" Gray exclaimed.

"Let's do this thing!" Natsu yelled, leaping ahead of the group to kick the door, only to bounce off it and land flat on his back. The fire dragon slayer then sprung to his feet and grabbed the door handles and pulled as the group gathered behind him. "All right freak time for a dirt nap!" Natsu declared, only to find a near blinding glow behind the door.

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" Jura roared, and then Garion's view was obscured by smoke and fire, and then he saw nothing but darkness.

* * *

Garion's eyes slowly creaked open, and the first things he was aware of was the pain coursing through his body and the hard ground he was lying on. He looked around and felt some relief when he saw the other Fairy Tail wizards were fine.

"Hey you guys... everyone okay?" Natsu asked.

"Keep ya voice down will ya? I'm trying to sleep here..." Gray replied.

"Aye..." Happy said weakly.

"Ugh..." Garion groaned. "Fine... just... sore..."

"Are we really this stupid? We're in Fairy Tail I can't accept that we fell for that trap so easil-AGH!" Lucy said, and promptly yelped in pain when her head hit the ceiling of the structure they were inside.

"Well we're also dumb enough to get buried alive." Gray remarked dryly. As Garion's senses returned to him, his eyes widened when he felt Jura's magic power just outside of the small cave they were in, and that it was falling fast.

"Jura's in trouble!" Garion said. Natsu looked at him for a second before promptly punching a hole in the roof. When the fire dragon slayer managed to get his body out, his eyes widened in shock when he saw Jura standing with his arms out to his sides. The wizard saint's body was heaving from the deep breaths he was taking.

"No!" Gray cried.

"Are you okay?" Happy asked weakly.

"Jura!?" Garion asked, eyes wide from shock.

"He risked his life..." Lucy said with wide eyes. "To protect us..."

"Paps hang in there!" Natsu exclaimed. Jura slowly turned his head to look at the Fairy Tail wizards.

"The strength and courage you possess... your guild is a lucky one..." The wizard saint struggled to say. "It brings me great relief... to know you're still alive..." And Iron Rock Jura fell to the ground, motionless.

"Paps no!" Gray yelled.

"You can't go like this!" Lucy cried.

"Please don't die!" Happy pleaded.

"JURA!" Natsu and Garion screamed to no avail, the Wizard saint was out of action.

The group quickly broke out of the shelter Jura had made for them and gathered around the wizard saint.

"Oh man... he looks bad..." Lucy said.

"Hang in there paps we'll get help for ya!" Gray said. He looked at Garion. "Garion, transfer some of your magic power to him! It's gotta be able to help!" Garion nodded and knelt down next to the wizard saint. Placing his hand on Jura's right arm, he revealed his wings and started to transfer power. Unfortunately it was like pouring a glass of water into an empty swimming pool, it didn't make a difference.

"It's not working..." Garion said despairingly. "I don't have enough to give him to help him even remotely."

"Oh man... what are we gonna do?" Happy asked. Natsu clenched his fist in anger, his whole body now shaking from rage.

" **Ridiculous!** " A voice said, causing the Fairy Tail wizards to all tense up and look around in alarm. " **Brain is such a fool! He used the last of his power to lay his trap, yet only one of you fell in it's snare!** "

"Who are you!?" Gray demanded.

"Over there!" Happy pointed into the smoke behind Gray as he spoke.

" **He was a pitiful leader. A disgrace to the six demons!** " Klodoa said menacingly as the smoke cleared. " **But our goal has not fallen out of reach, as long as Midnight stands we shall be victorious!** " The talking staff floated over to just in front of the Fairy Tail wizards. " **Since he's busy at the moment there's nothing keeping me from disposing of you myself!** " The staff declared threateningly.

"That cane's talking to me!" Happy yelled in horror.

"As a talking cat I wouldn't think you'd find it all that surprising." Lucy said sarcastically.

"I guess..." Happy admitted. Klodoa floated into the air, his eyes and the orb in his mouth glowing as he started laughing maniacally at the Fairy Tail wizards.

"That's crazy! That's the staff Brain was carrying around!" Gray said, not quite able to comprehend what he was seeing.

"Kay I'm freaked out now!" Lucy squeaked.

"How can a staff talk!?" Garion asked, taking a step back from Klodoa. The evil staff's laughter only grew in volume, until Natsu used a foolproof method of getting someone or something to shut up.

Slamming it repeatedly and with great force against the ground.

"Oh would you knock off the creepy laughing I've already got a splitting headache..." Natsu rambled on as he employed physical force against Klodoa, who yell 'ow' each time Natsu slammed him against the ground.

"Hey!" Lucy snapped. "Don't go grabbing that there's no telling where it's been ya know!"

"Stop this city right now you piece of rotting driftwood!" Natsu ordered. Klodoa bent upwards and looked Natsu in the face.

" **How dare you insult my family legacy! I come from a long line of proud seedups so show some respect!** " Klodoa roared angrily. " **Before you is the venerated seventh member of the Oracion Seis, emerged from his slumber to destroy you al-"** The talking piece of rotting driftwood was promptly returned to the action of being slammed against the ground angrily by Natsu.

"I've heard just about enough out of you!" Natsu yelled annoyingly.

"Hold on... I thought there were only six members of the Oracion Seis!" Lucy said.

"Yeah..." Garion said with a worried frown. "Doesn't Seis mean six?"

"That doesn't make sense..." Happy said.

"I know." Lucy muttered.

"Who cares?" Gray asked. "Whatever the number of members might be, a cane is talking about kicking our butts."

"Look at the bright side, it can't really kick our butts since it has no feet." Happy said. Klodoa suddenly let out a disgusted grunt and escaped from Natsu's grip. It gave the fire dragon slayer a disgusted look before turning to look out across the city.

" **It won't long until their wretched guild is within our sights! Then we can finally begin to cleanse this world of refuse!"**

"You mean we're already that close to Cait Shelter!?" Lucy demanded.

" **Indeed we are! Once they're stamped out, we can truly begin our crusade of darkness!** " Klodoa then resumed his maniacal laughter.

"Why Cait Shelter!?" Garion demanded. "Why do you want to destroy them!?" Klodoa stopped his laughter to look at the boy.

" **Why you ask? Because they are a light guild, what better reason is there for them to be destroyed! Bwahahaha!** " The stick resumed it's maniacal laughter. Natsu grinded his teeth together and then lit his fists aflame.

"All right I've heard enough from you stickface!" He yelled, leaping at Klodoa and taking a swing, only to miss as the stick maneuvered out of the way of the attack. Klodoa then bonked Natsu on the head before moving away from him. "Get back here you piece of firewood!" The fire dragon slayer yelled, chasing after the stick. Not left with much choice, Garion, Gray, Lucy and Happy all chased after the talking stick and Natsu, but made sure to bring Jura with as to not leave him unprotected.

The group ended up chasing the stick into a large decrepit hall, where Natsu was resuming his offensive against Klodoa. Unfortunately he was completely incapable of hitting the seventh member of the Seis and was getting knocked around the room a lot. Gray lept into the action to try and lend Natsu a hand just as Natsu was sent rolling across the room.

"Hey Lucy do you see Natsu rolling on the ground over there!?" Happy demanded as he pointed at Natsu.

"Actually I'm afraid that's not an extremely rare sight on these kind of mission's." Lucy said with a wry look on her face. Garion was just standing next to the celestial wizard, watching Natsu and Gray 'fight' Klodoa with a confused expression on his face. Unfortunately the two then descended into an all out fist fight with each other, complete with comical dust cloud and Klodoa poking at the two to egg them on further.

"We all knew this was coming." Happy said.

"They do like fighting don't they?" Garion asked. Klodoa then noticed Lucy and started staring intently at her, much to the celestial wizard's discomfort.

"Aww... I always get the creepy stares!" Lucy complained.

"Oh no your ego is showing!" Happy said cheerfully.

"Shut up cat!" Lucy snapped. "Once again my cuteness is a burden oh poor me..." she said in a strange, dreamy voice.

"The stress is getting to her guys she's finally gone completely insane!" Happy exclaimed panickingly. Klodoa stared at Lucy for a few more moments before he sighed.

" **Aww I thought there was a real woman here, but she's just a little girl.** " Klodoa said sadly.

"SAY WHAT!?" Lucy demanded. Natsu and Gray got over their differences and suddenly charged Klodoa, magic at the ready.

"Let's go!" Gray yelled.

"Oh yeah!" Natsu agreed. Instantly Klodoa managed to hit them both in the face, sending them crashing to the ground.

" **A bunch of annoying kids.** " Klodoa commented, and then struck Natsu and Gray with light blue lightning.

"Guys!" Garion yelled.

"The skull stick guy isn't playing around!" Happy added.

" **Huh. Poor babies. You may be young but you've got a lot to learn if you wanna beat me. Who cares how young you are? So if you wanna go floating your toned limber bodies around like that, fine but this is what happens!"**

"Sounds like someone has some serious age issues around here." Lucy said wearily.

"Aye." Happy said in agreement. Klodoa suddenly looked at the Fairy Tail members in front of him with a strange look.

"Now what?" Natsu demanded.

"The truth hurts, doesn't it?" Lucy asked mockingly.

"I don't think that's it." Happy said with a sweatdrop.

 **"Oh... No! This cannot be!** " Klodoa said with despair. " **They all have fallen! I can't believe it! The six demons have been defeated!** " Suddenly the orb in Klodoa's mouth fell out and shattered as it hit the ground, prompting all the Fairy Tail members to tense up. " **The horror! It's imminent! The great one is coming!** "

"Huh?" Gray asked.

"What's the big deal?" Natsu asked, sounding disinterested.

"Who's coming?" Lucy asked fearfully.

"The Great one...?" Garion asked with a confused frown.

"I bet whoever this great one is, it's not gonna be so great for us!" Happy whined.

"So who are you babbling about?" Gray asked, eyeing the stick that was not clattering its teeth and shaking in fear.

"He's getting super juicy!" Happy said in an oddly upbeat voice.

"That's sweat you dolt!" Lucy snapped.

" **It's Brain...** "

"Whaaat?" Gray asked, now even more confused.

"Brain?" Garion tilted his head in confusion. "But... Jura's already beat him."

" **I'm aware of that. But what you don't know is that there's another personality lurking inside him. You've seen the outer one, Brain, the name for the cold knowledge seeking persona at the surface. But there is a hidden face that craves only destruction. They call him... Zero.** " Garion felt fear creep into his heart once again and take root.

"Brain was bad enough for me..." Lucy said fearfully.

"Zero's worse?" Happy asked, sounding terrified.

" **He possess incredible power, paired with an unquenchable thirst for destruction! But Brain was able to seal him away, using six magical keys.** "

"And those are the Oracion Seis..." Gray said, the gears in his mind turning.

" **Correct! Bound together using body link magic, and once those six demons fall, Zero will once again be free to roam the land, annihilating anything with the misfortune to stand in his path!** "

Garion's eyes widened as a massive source of magical power neared the building. "That sounds like a challenge to me!" Natsu declared. Before Gairon could warn any of them, the wall to their left exploded outwards, sending dust and rubble flying across the room. Garion's eyes widened further as the massive source of magic power got closer. It was just so... _evil..._ the boy's pure mind couldn't understand how such a thing could exist. A figure stopped in the hole, and Klodoa bowed.

" **M-Master Zero! I humbly welcome your return!** " The living stick said desperately.

"Master Zero?" Lucy asked.

"Things have taken quite an interesting turn, haven't they Klodoa?" Zero asked. "Even Midnight fell in battle!"

" **Please sir! I beg you to grant me forgiveness!** "

"You misunderstand me, I'm not displeased. On the contrary... it's been far too long... this feeling I have! This flesh, this power! I've longed for it!" Zero declared. "It's time for me to begin the task for which I was summoned!"

" **"Y-yes sir!** " Klodoa flew off into a corner of the room as Zero removed Brian's jacket. Garion's fear intensified as he looked at Zero, the mans blood red eyes sending chills down the boys spine. Suddenly the dark wizard was surrounded by his magic, and he re-quipped into a green jacket.

"You scum!" He said with venom. "You've done an admirable job of destroying my guild! But as its master... I am bound by my obligation to take my revenge!"

"No way... He's the true leader of the Oracion Seis?" Lucy asked, terror in her voice.

"Afraid so..." Happy said weakly. Zero exerted his power, causing the ground to shake and his body to be encased in a dark green aura.

"His power is making the ground shake!" Lucy said, even more terrified than before.

"So are you fired up and ready to go Natsu?" Gray asked with a grin.

"The guy's got some crazy magical power going on, I can't wait to take him down!" Natsu said with an equally sized grin. Garion looked between the two and then at Zero. _W-W-We can't beat him! H-H-He's nearly got as much power a-as Laxus!_ Garion thought fearfully.

"That's it! I'll begin with the bald one, who harmed this body while Brain was in charge of it!" Zero declared as he gathered his dark green magic in his hands. "Him first!" He then launched a barrage of projectiles towards Jura, which was saved when Gray created an Ice make:Shield in front of it.

"You'd really attack somebody who's not even able to move?" Gray demanded. "You're a coward!"

"Nonsense!" Zero retorted. "Spare me your foolish ideals!" Within moments, Gray's shield fell and both he and Jura were sent flying through the air.

"Gray!" Garion cried out.

"You guys!" Natsu shouted.

"I take great pleasure in destroying many things that do not move! Why should that man be an exception?" Zero asked, a psychotic grin on his face. Natsu leapt into the air and attack Zero, but the dark wizard easily blocked his punch.

"Now burn!" Natsu roared. Zero simply grunted in amusement before he pressed his finger to Natsu's chest and sent the fire dragon slayer hurtling into the ceiling.

"Angel's spear!" Garion yelled, hurling a white spear of light at Zero. The dark wizard turned his head and his eyes momentarily widened before he sidestepped Garion's attack. He then started chuckling.

"Ahh yes... the hybrid." He said with a grin. Garion froze in place as Zero looked at him. "Brain was very interested in you. You should feel honoured, you will be the first of your kind that I will destroy!" Zero hurled a high speed ball of dark green energy at Garion, which caused the boy to scream in pain when it struck him and sent him flying across the room into a wall. For a few moments, Garion was able to retain consciousness, but the damage had been done, and the darkness swirling at the edge of his vision soon spread, and Garion fainted.

* * *

" _-eed three more people! There's gotta be someone else! Can anyone help?_ "

Garion felt consciousness slowly return to him, the voice that had sounded in his mind being the thing that had somehow awoken him. Anything else was drowned out as he felt the massive amounts of pain and exhaustion that coursed through his body. With great effort, he managed to half open his eyes. What he saw was that half his body was now coated in rubble, but not buried underneath it. He tried lifting his head, but the effort was too much and he collapsed back onto the stone, his eyes closing as his head came to rest. He struggled to retain consciousness, his whole body demanding to be allowed to rest, but each second it got harder and harder to stay awake.

Garion remembered where he was, and the situation he was in, but a large part of his mind was suddenly telling him that it was hopeless. _I can barely move... I can't even open my eyes... how am I supposed to help...?_ He thought pessimistically. He managed to open his eyes by a fraction, before they fell closed again.

 _It's hopeless... I can't... I can't-_

 _Don't give up._

Suddenly Garion's vision went from pitch black to white, but he still couldn't see anything. Before his mind could process what was going on, a blurred, long haired figure appeared at the centre of his vision.

 _Don't give up._ The voice, which was soft, warm, caring, and strangely familiar, repeated. Garion got the feeling that it was coming from the figure in his vision. Suddenly two blurry shapes appeared from out of the figures back. Even though Garion couldn't clearly see the face of whoever it was, he had the feeling that they were smiling. A strange feeling welled up in his heart as he looked at this blurred figure, a feeling he'd never had before.

 _W-Who-_

 _Don't give up._ The figure repeated. It then seemed to gain an amused air about it. _She's counting on you._

Before Garion could process what the figure had said, his vision went black, and he heard another voice in his head.

 _"Garion..."_ Wendy's voice echoed in his mind. He could hear the despair and worry in it, and he could picture the tears that were probably forming in her eyes at that very moment.

Suddenly he grabbed hold of the stone under his right hand, and with a great heave pulled himself out of the rubble he was under, after which he collapsed onto his hands and knees, breathing heavily. The others were getting up as well, Natsu was already kneeling with his fist on the ground, Lucy was leaning against the rubble next to her, Gray was sitting with his head rolled back and happy was standing with his head lowered, but defiant.

" _Can you hear our voices? If you can please respond!_ " Hibiki said, desperation clear in his voice.

"Yeah..." Natsu managed to say. "We hear you..."

 _"Natsu..."_ Hibiki said, relief in his voice.

"Destroy... all six... lacrima... at one time..." Gray managed to say.

"Zero... at one of the Lacrima..." Garion managed to say. "Gotta stop him... gotta stop Nirvana..." On the other side of the city, Wendy's face lit up and a wave of relief crashed through her as she heard Garion's voice.

 _Garion... you're safe!_ She thought with relief.

"So who's fighting Zero?" Lucy asked. "Cause we'd like another crack at him... right boys?"

"18 minutes left... we gotta hurry..." Happy took a few deep breaths. "We owe it to Carla and Wendy to protect their guild!"

 _"_ _Guys... my telepath is about to cut out... a while ago I uploaded a map to each of your mind... I numbered the Lacrima... so you can find them...everybody chose a number okay and then split up-"_ Suddenly Hibiki stopped talking. Natsu, Gray, Lucy and Garion all got to their feet, albeit with Lucy leaning against a wall, Gray holding his harm, and Garion clutching his side.

"I'll take one!" Natsu said.

"Two!" Gray declared.

"Guess I'll take three!" Lucy said. "Please don't let Zero be there!"

"I'll take four!" Garion said.

 _"No."_ Ichiya's voice sounded over the telepathic link. _"I can tell I am the closest to it thanks to the smell of its parfum, so it would be best for me to take care of it."_

 _"You mean because you see it's the closest on the map?"_ Erza asked.

 _"My honey why do you insist on making a fool out of me?"_ Ichiya asked.

 _"I can take number five."_ Erza said.

"Erza!" Natsu and Garion said cheerfully. "Guess you're feeling better huh?" The fire dragon slayer asked.

 _"Yeah... it's all thanks to you guys."_ Erza replied.

"Then I'll take six!" Garion said over the link before Jellal could call it.

 _"Very well, but I'll be sending someone to help you destroy it."_ Erza replied. Suddenly the link disappeared.

"What happened?" Natsu asked.

"We lost out connection..." Gray said with a small amount of anger.

"That means... we lost Hibiki..." Lucy said worriedly.

"Okay guys! It looks like we've got the six people we need!" Happy said, his voice filled with determination. "Let's go! And if you run into Zero take that jerk down! Cause we're all gonna be too busy destroying those lacrima!" The four wizards nodded and set off in their different directions. Garion took the most direct route he could to lacrima number six, but as he journeyed down the long hallway leading to it, his exhaustion began to catch up with him, so he made sure to slow down. The hallway itself didn't help, the random assortment of roots, what appeared to be tree trunks, and large chunks of rubble didn't at all speed up Garion's progress.

The boy rounded a corner and fell against the wall next to him, his breathing deep and long. "Not much... further... now..." He said to himself. _I hope that creepy Zero guy isn't at Lacrima number six... but then that means someone else has to deal with him..._ Garion swallowed nervously. _And who is Erza sending to help me? Wendy's the only person I can think of..._ The boy pushed himself off the wall and kept walking, eventually reaching lacrima number 6 and again collapsing against a wall. He checked the timer in his head, and felt a bit of relief when he noticed he had about 12 minutes left.

Garion looked around the large round room before settling his eyes on the lacrima itself. He slid down the wall and let his body relax, doing his best to regain as much energy as he could in order to help destroy the lacrima.

 _*Elsewhere within Nirvana's corridors*_

"Thank you for doing this Carla." Wendy said as Carla carried her down the hallway to Lacrima number six. "I'm worried, I hope Jellal's okay."

"Right now you should be more concerned with your own well being." Carla struggled to say. "This won't be easy, are you sure?"

"Yeah." Wendy replied with determination. "Garion's going to be there to help, so it won't just be me."

 _*Flashback*_

 _"What's the matter?" Wendy asked Jellal. "Are you not feeling well?"_

 _"I'm fine." Jellal replied. "Forgive me if I'm wrong but don't you use healing magic? Natsu's going to face Zero so he's going to need his energy replenished. Think you can do that for him?"_

 _"I'll try..." Wendy said, not sounding the least bit sure of herself._

 _"Do you have any idea how draining using her healing magic can be and how many times this poor girl has had to use it today?" Carla angrily demanded. "Sorry but I'm putting my foot down!"_

 _"I understand." Jellal said._

 _"You do?" Carla asked, now slightly confused._

 _"It's fine, I can replenish his energy myself. I've regained a memory, I've remembered what makes this Natsu fellow so special. He holds the power of hope." Jellal explained. He then walked forward and crouched in front of Wendy. "It's a lot to ask but I need you to help that Garion fellow destroy lacrima number six for me." The former wizard saint asked._

 _"Me? But I don't think I'll be much help." Wendy said._

 _"Why must you doubt yourself?" Jellal asked. "You're a dragon slayer. Your magic is so powerful it was once used against the most terrifying dragons in the land!" Wendy stared wide eyed at Jellal. "Consume the air, no the heavens. Unleash the power of the dragon that lies dormant within you, combine it with Garion's power, and success is assured." Wendy stared at Jellal for a few moments before she replied._

 _"I'll do my best."_

 _*End of flashback*_

Wendy and Carla finally reached lacrima number six. Upon arrival, Carla quickly settled Wendy on the ground and afterwards landed and dispelled her wings. The two looked at the lacrima for a moment before Wendy looked around, and upon seeing Garion slumped against a far wall she let out a relieved sigh. "He made it..." She said with a small smile. Garion then turned his head and upon noticing Wendy and Carla his face broke into a smile.

"Wendy! Carla!" He said cheerfully. "Ready to destroy the lacrima?"

Wendy nodded, her expression one of determination. "Yeah."

"Be careful not to overexert yourself child." Carla reminded her. "You've used a lot of magic power today, don't go and burn yourself out."

"I won't Carla." Wendy said. Garion forced himself up and slowly walked over to the Cait Shelter wizard and Exceed. He took position next to Wendy who was standing on the edge of the bowel around the lacrima, and the two looked up at the orb in front of them.

"We'll attack it together. That way we can do the most damage." Garion said. Wendy nodded in reply.

"Right." She said. Garion took a deep breath before he unfurled his wings and began gathering his power.

"I'm gonna unleash my power!" Wendy said with determination, causing Garion to look at her. "The dragon inside me! I have to to protect my guild! If you can hear me Grandeeney please lend me your power!" The sky dragon slayer closed her eyes and started to draw in the air around her, using it to boost her strength.

"Wendy..." Garion and Carla said in unison. Garion then adopted a determined expression and held out his right hand, palm facing upwards. A spear of light began to form in his hand, but it was taking form very slowly, as Garion was pouring all the magic power he could spare into it.

The remainder of the 12 minute ticked away slowly as the two young wizards gathered their power. Carla kept a close eye on Wendy the whole time, but occasionally glanced at Garion to make sure he was alright as well. The spear in his hand was slowly take shape and was pulsating with power. Meanwhile the air was staring to visibly gather around Wendy, causing her hair and clothes to start swaying about.

 _"Wendy... Garion... I know you two can do it if you just stay focused..."_ Carla thought. She looked at Garion, who was now surrounded by an aura of pure white magical power. The Angel's spear in his hand was nearly fully formed, and was glowing with power, as was the aura around the boy.

The timer reached 30 seconds, and Garion's spear was fully formed. He opened his eyes and examined it before gripping it tightly. _Only one shot at this... let's make it count!_ Wendy's power was spiking now, and with a deep breath drew in all the air that had been gathering around her. The two wizard's glanced at each other and nodded.

"NOW!" Garion yelled as he drew his arm back. "Grand Angel's spear!" He roared as he hurled his attack at the lacrima.

Wendy drew her head back at the same time Garion drew his arm back. "Sky dragon's..." and as Garion hurled his spear she finished her attack. "Roar!" The massive wave of wind that burst forth from the sky dragon slayer's mouth engulfed the Angel's spear that Garion had thrown. Neither of them saw it, but the spear fused together with the roar attack, causing the overall destructive power of the attack to skyrocket. At the precise moment that the attack obliterated the lacrima, the other five were destroyed, shutting Nirvana down for good.

Garion staggered backwards as the lacrima exploded and he collapsed, his breathing fast and shallow. Suddenly his magical sense was no longer being blocked, and he could tell that all six lacrima had been successfully destroyed in unison. Relief and joy welled up inside the boy and he couldn't help but laugh in relief.

"We did it!" He yelled cheerfully. "We stopped Nirvana!"

"I can't believe it!" Wendy said, relief sweeping through her and tears of joy welling up in both her and Carla's eyes.

"I'm so proud of you!" Carla said with pride.

Before any further celebrations could take place, Nirvana's shaking intensified as parts of the floor started breaking up and/or caving in. Garion let out a yelp of surprise as he barely managed to crawl off a falling section of floor.

"This thing's falling apart!" He yelled, getting to his feet as quickly as he could. His exhaustion was even worse now, and it took nearly all his willpower to just stand up.

"Hurry! We need to leave now!" Carla said. She grabbed Wendy's hand and was about to lead her down a corridor when a stone fell from the ceiling and blocked the passage way. Wendy screamed and took a step back, nearly tripping over a crack in the floor as she did. Garion's head snapped from side to side as he tried to figure out how to get out the collapsing room safely.

He then looked up, and a plan formed in his mind. A mildly stupid plan, but a plan nonetheless.

"Wendy! Carla!" He called, quickly moving over. "I need you to grab onto me and hold tight!" Wendy blinked at him, and despite the situation, blushed slightly.

"W-What are you talking about!?" Carla demanded. "We don't have time to-"

"I'm going to fly us out!" Garion clarified.

"What!?" Wendy asked, wide eyed. "But you've used up so much magic power already!"

"I don't care! I need to get you two out of here safely, and that's what I'm going to do!" Garion said seriously. A falling stone then nearly crushed him, accelerating the urgency of the situation. Another then nearly crushed Carla, quickly changing her stance on the situation.

"Very well! Just make it fast!" She demanded. Suddenly the whole structure gave a violent shake, causing Wendy to stumble forward and end up against Garion. When they both realised their situation, they blushed but Wendy complied and wrapped her arms tightly around Garion, who did the same to her. Carla grabbed hold of Garion's arm.

"Ready?" Garion asked, the sensation of Wendy hugging him an unfamiliar and strange one, but not an unwelcome one. Wendy and Carla nodded. Concentrating as hard as he could, Garion unfurled his wings and leapt into the air and towards the crumbling roof in a single motion, summoning a shield of light to surround both him, Wendy and Carla just in case he couldn't dodge any stones.

Within moments the shield flickered as Garion navigated through the falling stone, and a sweat broke out on his forehead as he struggled to maintain it. It nearly broke when a large piece of stone that he had dodged around suddenly broke in half and one of the halves slammed against his shield. His already low magic power was rapidly running dry and his exhaustion was starting to become too much for his body to bear, which was not helped by the added weight of Wendy and Carla.

 _Just... a bit... further..._ Garion thought as his entire body screamed in agony at him. Even moving his wings was now pure agony. Just as his magic power finally ran dry however, he broke free of the falling rubble. His shield evaporated and he breathed a sigh of relief, but now he had a bigger problem.

Landing safely.

His upward velocity rapidly decayed and soon he, Wendy and Carla were falling towards the ground. The boy gritted his teeth as he exerted as much force with his wings as he could to try and slow the descent, which was working to a degree, but wouldn't slow him down enough to avoid a painful landing. As the ground neared he pushed his wings to breaking point to try and slow himself down and spun around so that he would hit the ground first and cushion the impact for Wendy and Carla. He was rewarded with a painful thump on his back, a few quick rolls and all the air being knocked out of his lungs as he landed.

Unfortunately his grip on Wendy and her grip on him broke and she ended up rolling about a meter further after Garion stopped. Carla managed to stay holding on, but let go once they'd stopped moving. She looked around quickly before looking at Garion with a smile.

"We made it out..." She said. "My thanks Garion." The Exceed said gratefully as she looked at the boy. Garion slowly sat up and smiled weakly at the Exceed.

"No... problem..." He said.

"There you guys are."

The trio's heads snapped to the right, and they smiled when they saw Gray, Lucy, Ichiya, Jura and Erza, all of whom were smiling back.

"Erza!" Garion said as cheerfully as he could.

"Well done to both of you." Erza said with a smile.

"Hey have you guys seen Natsu?" Lucy asked as Garion got to his feet.

"Not yet..." Garion said. "Where do you thi-" The dual element wizard was both cut off and nearly knocked over when Wendy suddenly hugged him. He blinked in confusion and a blush exploded onto his face. His arms froze in the air next to him, and his brain went haywire.

"W-Wha-" he started to say.

"You kept your promise..." Wendy said, tears of joy rolling down her face. Garion blinked and his blush intensified. "You're the greatest... I can't thank you enough..."

"B-bu-" Garion looked around, confusion clear on his face along with embarrassment and a rapidly worsening blush. It didn't help that nearly all those assembled had amused looks on their faces at the sight of Garion's predicament. "I-I..." Erza raised her hand to indicate that Garion shouldn't say anything. She then nodded and for some reason Garion blushed even more. Wendy then broke the hug and took a step back, but she was still smiling.

"If it weren't for yo-" Wendy was speaking but Garion couldn't hear her anymore. He blinked, and her relieved smile turned to a worried one. Garion opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Then suddenly Wendy's eyes widened and she started speaking again, but Garion didn't hear it.

The next thing he knew, he was staring at the sky, and then darkness consumed his vision yet again.

* * *

 _* **The next day, early morning, Cait Shelter Guild hall** *_

Garion's eyes slowly opened as he awoke and soon became aware of the dull ache present everywhere in his body, but he lacked bandages on his body. His magic power had already restored itself but his physical energy would need more time.

"Ah, you're awake." A voice said from Garion's left. He turned his head to see a man with straight black hair with odd tattoos on his face sitting next to his bed. "I'll be sure to inform your friends." The man got up and promptly left the room through a curtain.

 _W... where am I?_ Garion reached out with his magical sense and quickly found Wendy, Natsu, Lucy and Erza were nearby. _We must be at a guild..._ He then noticed the mark on a banner hanging on the wall. _Oh... it's Cait Shelter._ Before he could think of anything else, the curtain parted as Wendy and Carla entered the room.

"Hey Garion!" She said happily. "How are you feeling?" Garion noticed the green dress she was wearing. _That looks nice._ He thought idly.

"Sore... and tired... but fine!" Garion said finished his sentence as cheerfully as he could. Wendy seemed to relax at his words. "What happened?"

"You lost consciousness right as Wendy was thanking you." Carla explained. "Obviously from you pushing yourself so hard." She added with a hint of annoyance. Garion blinked and gave a nervous laugh.

"Sorry..." He said sheepishly. "I-"

"Don't bother with trying to rationalise it. It's over now so it doesn't matter." Carla said dismissively.

"We brought you here to our guild Cait Shelter afterwards so you could rest." Wendy explained. "I also healed your wounds." She smiled.

"Thanks Wendy." Garion said, smiling back. "You're awesome." The sky dragon slayer blushed slightly at his compliment.

"Not really..." She said softly. Carla looked between the two and sighed.

"Now now he needs his rest. You two can talk later, after he's recovered." The Exceed said in a commanding tone. Wendy nodded and smiled at Garion again before she left the room.

The rest of the morning passed in a blur for Garion until it was the afternoon and he was standing with the rest of the Coalition wizards in front of the whole Cait Shelter guild in the middle of the village. He had changed into a light blue shirt with a large cat symbol on the left sleeve and small patterns along the edges of the shirt and a pair of green shorts with a branch pattern covering both legs. His shoes had been restored to wearable condition, and he wore them happily.

"Fairy Tail." Roubaul, the Cait Shelter guild master, said. "Blue Pegasus. Lamia scale, not to mention Wendy and Carla. I commend your efforts in not only in defeating the Oracion Seis, but saving our village from Nirvana's wrath. Speaking as a representative of our regional guild league I, Roubaul, offer my deepest gratitude. Thank you." Roubaul held his hand to his chest. " _Naboral,_ we are in your dept."

"We were happy to help you!" Ichiya declared. He then promptly shot forward and started doing a posturing routine whilst saying, "Master Roubaul. It was a hard won victory... against a ferocious opponent... but from the deepest darkest depths of despair light shined down on us!" The last part of his sentence somehow echoed. "It was the bright and warming glow of true friendship! We followed it all the way to victory!" Ichiya declared as he sparkled.

"Well said master!" The rest of the trimens chorused whilst giving Ichiya a round of applause. _"Man~!"_

"The bright and warming glow is probably coming from the spotlight he's hogging." Gray said with a look of annoyance.

"No joke." Lucy agreed. "And by the way did he ever fight anyone?" She asked.

"Why does he do that?" Garion asked, looking at Ichiya.

"You know I wish I knew Garion. I wish I knew..." Lucy said with a sweatdrop.

"I suppose it's over now." Sherry said sadly.

"You two should know, I'm proud of you." Jura said with pride in his voice as he put his hands on Sherry and Lyon's shoulders.

"Thank you sir!" Lyon said happily.

"Hey we deserve a victory party!" Natsu declared happily.

"Aye sir!" Happy said in agreement. In response, Ichiya and the trimens started dancing whilst constantly saying 'oh yes!', Gray and Lyon stripped (big surprise there) and Garion couldn't help but laugh at everything that was going on. Soon all the coalition wizards started copying the Blue Pegasus wizards but they all came to a screeching halt when they realised that no one in Cait Shelter, save Wendy, was doing anything.

"I'm truly sorry." Roubaul said with sorrow in his voice. "I've neglected my duty to tell you about the Nirvit people. Please accept my sincere apology."

"Well it's not like it's gonna stop us from partying!" Happy said, sounding annoyed.

"The Nirvit?" Garion asked with a frown.

"But we'll listen to whatever you might have to say." Natsu said in a strangely sage voice. "...right?" he asked Happy.

"Aye sir." Happy said with a nod.

"It's allright master. You don't have to tell us if you don't want to." Wendy said.

"It is important. I ask that everyone please listen very closely to the tale I am about to tell." Roubaul requested. "First let me clear the air about something. The truth is we are not descendants of the Nirvit people.

"What?" Wendy asked, confused.

"Indeed we are the Nirvits themselves. And many years ago, 400 to be exact, Nirvana was created, fashioned by my hands." Roubaul explained.

"By you!?" Lyon demanded.

"No way..." Garion said with wide eyes.

"400 years ago?" Happy asked. Roubaul then went on to explain why he created Nirvana and how he had used it to bring light to a dark world. His tale grew sad as he explained the downfall of the Nirvits due to the fact that Nirvana spread the evil that it had absorbed through its populus and thus caused them to begin slaughtering each other until there were none left. All the wizards assembled were too shocked to even speak.

"That's not quite true." Roubaul said. "For I am the only survivor. Then again in this particular situation the word 'survivor' is a bit misleading. In truth my body ceased to function many years ago. What you see before you now is a projection of the man I was once." Garion was just staring at Roubaul with a dumbfounded expression on his face. _Just... a projection...?_

"As punishment for my sins, I, this powerless spirit, have stood as sentinel over my creation for 400 years, keeping my weary eyes open for the one at last who could destroy Nirvana and consign it to the pages of history." Roubaul continued. "And now... my post can be vacated for that person has been found..." He said with relief. All the wizards just stared in disbelief at him.

"No..." Wendy said as her whole body shook and tears threatened to fall from her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?" Garion looked at the sky maiden in shock. Roubaul glowed briefly, and then one by one, the Cait Shelter members started to vanish. "What's happening?" Wendy demanded. "Don't go!"

"You can't just leave us!" Carla cried.

"Maguna! Mabel!" Wendy cried as her guildmates vanished, all of them with smiles on their faces.

"No..." Garion couldn't believe his eyes. "The whole guild... is just vanishing!?"

"Why are you doing this!?" Wendy demanded, tears now rolling down her cheeks. "Please don't go!" She begged.

"I've deceived you Wendy." Roubaul said. "For that I am deeply sorry. All your fellow guild members were spectres. They were nothing but illusions."

"Are you kidding me!?" Natsu demanded.

"Illusions with their own personalities?" Lyon asked, not quite able to believe it.

"That takes powerful creation magic." Jura said.

"For many years I lived in this deserted village alone, always keeping a watchful eye over Nirvana." Roubaul explained. "Until one day, a boy came to me with a companion needing help. His eyes burned with such intensity and sincerity that I simply had no choice but to take the little girl in. I had resigned myself to a solitary existence, but there she was..."

 _"Hey mister?" A young Wendy asked. "What is this place?"_

 _"Well... how do I put this?" Roubaul said._

 _"He lied to me..." young Wendy lowered her head onto her arms. "He said he was gonna take me to the magic guild!"_

 _"Err... right!" Roubaul said quickly, not entirely sure of what he was doing. "This is a guild! A magical guild for wizards of every stripe!"_

 _"Wow really?" Young Wendy asked enthusiastically._

 _"Of course it is!" Roubaul affirmed. "Go on! See for yourself! Your new friends are all outside waiting for you!"_

"I filled the village with apparitions so she wouldn't be alone." Roubaul explained.

"So you created an entire guild just for Wendy?!" Lucy asked in a shocked voice.

"No one I care for is a real person!? How could you do something so cruel to me master!?" Wendy screamed, clutching her head.

"Don't fret my dear, calm down." Roubaul said calmly. "Neither you nor Carla need those imaginary friends." Roubaul then raised his arm and pointed at the Allied forces. "You're surrounded by real friends who care for you." Roubaul's body started to glow, and he let out a soft chuckle. Tears were now streaming down Wendy's face and she was on the verge of breaking down into relentless crying. "A bright future awaits you. Embrace it with open arms." Roubaul had now almost completely faded away. Wendy broke into a sprint and ran towards him.

"MASTER!" She cried.

"To each and every one of you I owe my deepest gratitude." Roubaul's voice echoed. "I know I can leave Wendy and Carla in your hands." And so Roubaul the Nirvit faded from existence. Wendy stared up at the sky, tears now freely flowing down her face. Her guild mark began to fade, turning into small specks of light that floated off into the air. Once it was gone, Wendy collapsed to her knees and let out one final, pained scream.

"MASTER!"

The allied forces watched her cry, none of them wishing to interrupt her grief.

"Hey."

A hand came to rest on Wendy's shoulder. A warm, comforting hand that seemed to relieve her sorrow by it's mere touch.

"I know what it's like... to be alone..." Garion said. He then smiled softly. "But you don't have to..." Wendy looked back at him, tears still streaming down her face. "Come with us. Be a part of Fairy tail... and you won't ever be alone again..." Wendy looked at him. His small smile was filled with joy and happiness, but also understanding and sadness. "Whatddya say?"

Wendy reached up and wiped some of the tears from her eyes.

"Y-yeah..."

* * *

 **And it's done! So this took me forever to get around to, and I sincerely apologize for that. I also apologize for the lack of a fight in this chapter, and if it got a bit boring. I Just wanted to get the arc over and done with so I could get onto what I'm really exciting about for this story, the original story bits!**

 **So now Wendy's in Fairy Tail, I can get this ship sailing! I promise I will not go off schedule again, my exams and games just got too distracting and it's my own fault, so I apologize again. In case I haven't said it, the focus of this story will be Garion and Wendy, which is why I only wrote scenes that they were in and stuff, and this also means that I'll be barely changing the overall plot line of FT, since this is about how Garion and Wendy get along, not how Garion changes the whole bloody story line of FT cause he exists.**

 **And also cause I've got no bloody idea what Hiro is doing with the story anymore. Read chapter 493 of the manga to get what I'm saying. Actually just read the Alavrez arc. (I seriously think Hiro is just running out of ideas at this point. He better have a bloody good explanation for the character he just revealed, otherwise Ima get pissed.)**

 **Sorry about that, just rambling on. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review telling me what you thought and I'll see you in the next chapter!**

 **Tatty-bye!**


	11. A new partnership

**Hello everybody and welcome to the chapter! Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favourites, it means a lot! There's going to be a small original arc before we get onto Edolas, just to get some bonding going between Garion and Wendy. I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own FT**

* * *

Garion was beaming as he stood on the deck of the ship that was carrying him, Team Natsu, and Wendy and Carla home. The sun shining overhead, combined with the warm, happy atmosphere on the ship meant Garion's spirits were higher than a kite. The boy walked over and stood next to Wendy, who smiled at him when she saw him.

"Ahh... so this is what it's like to sail on the seas without puking your brains out." Natsu said, a grin on his face.

"Aye matey! Welcome to the good life!" Happy said cheerfully.

Natsu then proceeded to ecstatically run up and down across the deck with his arms in the air. "Look out vehicles! Natsu's gonna ride you hard!" The fire dragon slayer declared happily.

"Careful!" Wendy, who was watching with a smile, said. "The Troia spell doesn't last forever!" Almost as if on cue, Natsu suddenly collapsed and started looking _very_ sick.

"No... cast that spell again!" Natsu pleaded as he writhed around on the floor. "Hurry!"

"I'm sorry I can't! It only works a couple of times." Wendy said apologetically.

"Guess it's back to barf bags!" Gray said with mirth. Lucy let out a laugh in reply to Gray's comment.

"When you and Wendy join Fairy Tail I'll show you all the snuggling spots perfect for kitties." Happy said, turning to look at Carla.

"I'm joining your guild to stay close to Wendy not because I have any interest in you!" Carla curtly replied.

"We're joining Fairy Tail!" Wendy said happily, turning around to face the rest of the group. "This is so exciting!" Garion's smile turned into a grin as he looked at Wendy.

"I'm sure you'll love it!" Garion said excitedly. "There's so many cool people for you to meet! And we got lots of cool jobs and our guild hall is awesome!" The boy suddenly seemed to be bouncing on the balls of his feet, causing Gray and Erza to let out amused chuckles. "I'll even show you around and stuff if you want!"

"That'd be great!" Wendy said, now even more excited about joining Fairy Tail after hearing the bubbling happiness in Garion's voice. "Now I can't wait!"

"Yes, neither can I." Carla said sarcastically. For the rest of the journey to the guild, Garion happily and excitedly told Wendy everything that he knew about Fairy Tail and Magnolia, pausing only when Wendy asked him the odd question, which he always answered with excitement.

"Garion sure likes to talk about Fairy tail doesn't he?" Lucy remarked to Erza and Gray as the dual element wizard was in the middle of describing the actual guild hall to Wendy. The other two wizards chuckled in response.

"Certainly." Erza replied, a smile on her face. "He's never been one to be short of good things to say about the guild. In fact I'm certain he knows more positive things about the guild than anyone else save the master."

"The only problem with that is it's kinda hard to get him to stop talking once he starts." Gray said with a smile.

"He's like that with everything Gray." Erza said. Gray chuckled again.

"Yeah I know." The ice wizard said.

* * *

 _*Some time later, Fairy Tail guildhall*_

"Long story short..." Erza said after explaining all that had transpired regarding the Oracion Seis and Nirvana. "Wendy and Carla are Fairy Tail's newest members so you better treat them well."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all!" Wendy said somewhat nervously before bowing. The entire guild then exploded into chatter about Wendy and Carla, many of them complimenting Wendy's cuteness, some mentioning the fact that Carla was basically a female Happy, and others just simply offering friendly welcomes. Wendy smiled and nodded her way through them.

"Hey Levy!" Garion said cheerfully, rushing over to the solid script wizard. The bookworm grinned at the boy as he rushed over to her and broke her hug with Lucy.

"Garion!" Levy said cheerfully. "Great to see you!" Garion stopped just in front of her, his usual beaming smile present on his face. The two then shared a high five. "How'd it go?"

"It was cool, but also kinda scary." Garion said. His eyes widened. "And awesome! I got to meet Wendy! She's got the coolest magic ever and she's super awesome!" He said in an extremely cheerful tone of voice. Levy giggled at Garion's enthusiasm.

"Is she?" The solid script wizard asked with a smile. "Why is that?"

"Cause she can heal people and stuff with her magic!" Garion said cheerfully. "She even saved my life!" Levy's eyes widened and then she looked over at Wendy.

"Really?" She asked. The solid script wizard then looked back at Garion and raised an eyebrow. "And why did she need to save your life in the first place?" She asked in a slightly warning tone.

"Um... I... uh... helped Lucy fight a member of the Oracion Seis... and ended up getting washed down a river..." Garion said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. Levy's eyes widened and she looked at Lucy. The celestial wizard nodded but then chuckled.

"He did most of the fighting to be honest." Lucy admitted. "He even threw one of the bad guys out of the way of one of their allies' attacks and took a hit because of it." Levy couldn't help but chuckle and smile at the last bit.

"That sounds like Garion all right." She turned back to face the boy. "I hope you plan to introduce me to her. I want to meet the girl who saved your life." Garion's face lit up and he beamed at her before grabbing her hand and promptly leading her over to where Wendy was talking with Mirajane.

"You mind telling us what type of magic you use?" Mira asked with a smile as Garion and Levy pulled up next to her.

"Wait a minute don't you dare compare me to that furry horndoll!" Carla angrily snapped, not at all please with the comparison between her and happy that Mira had made moments ago.

"Don't mind her." Wendy said with a smile. "I use healing and support magic. Actually I'm a sky dragon slayer!" Almost instantly the guild went dead quiet. Everyone just looked at Wendy with shocked expressions. Wendy looked around in confusion.

 _Did I do something wrong already?_ She wondered, her happiness from moments before rapidly fading.

"THAT'S AWESOME!" Practically the whole of the guild screamed, completely catching Wendy off-guard. "We have another dragon slayer!"

"Aww yeah!" Macao said cheerfully.

"Just like Natsu and Gajeel!" Reedus said in an equally cheerful voice.

"I've never heard of a guild with three dragon slayers in it we're gonna be even more unstoppable now!" Wakaba said whilst doing a stupid dance. Wendy had recovered from her surprise and was now cheerfully smiling.

"Alright everyone listen up!" Makarov declared loudly. "Let's welcome our new members the way only Fairy tail can!" There was a massive roar of approval from the rest of the guild, which Garion joined in on. "Now eat, drink and make merry!" The guild master ordered. The guild promptly erupted into celebrations, brawls and everything that went on when Fairy Tail celebrated something, included damaged furniture and multiple burn injuries. Garion leapt right into the heart of the celebrations and a grin was glued to his face for the rest of the day. Wendy had fun as well, her smile never faded and she laughed herself to tears at some of the things that happened.

All in all, it was a good day in Fairy Tail.

 _*Fairy Tail guildhall, next day, around noon*_

"Hmm..." Wendy hummed as she looked at the request board. She was having difficulty deciding on which job to take, as a lot of them offered large rewards but looked to be quite dangerous and others offered lesser rewards but looked to be much easier. Carla was also closely examining the available quests, trying to determine which would be best for her and Wendy to choose.

"Has anything on the board caught your interest?" Mira asked as she walked up to the pair.

"There's so many its hard to pick one." Wendy replied, turning to face the white haired girl.

"Take your time!" Mira said with a smile. "Though if you wouldn't mind a little advice I'd stay away from solo jobs for now." The S-class wizard saw the slightly despondent look on Wendy's face so she continued. "Since you're just starting out it might be best to assist another team with one of their jobs. You'll take a pay cut of course but the experience is well worth it." Wendy and Carla glanced at each other for a moment before Wendy smiled at Mira.

"Sounds like a lot of fun!" Wendy said enthusiastically.

"I admire your enthusiasm but take a look at your potential partners." Carla said. Natsu and Elfman were sitting at the bar laughing and acting like idiots, Natsu somehow had a mug that had fire in it, and Happy slid up next to Carla with a hopeful look on his face. "Not a chance!" Carla said prudently, causing Happy's hopeful look to turn to one of sadness and he skulked off.

"Helping Wendy find a good job Mirajane?" Lucy asked as she and Levy walked up to the group.

"Actually, I think it'd be best for her to tag along on someone else's job and get some experience." Mira explained.

"Good plan!" Levy agreed. "I mean Lulu here got her start in Fairy Tail by helping Natsu right?" Faux tears started running down Lucy's face.

"And its led me into more horrifying and deadly situations than any girl should have to endure!" She whined.

"You've got more courage than me, that's for sure." Levy said jovially.

"Courage..." Wendy said to herself, holding a fist up in front of her chest. She then lowered it and smiled at the other three girls. "Well then, since the two of you are here, is there any work that you need help with? I may still be pretty green, but I promise to do my very best!" She said cheerfully. Levy's smile widened.

"We could really use that kind of attitude in shadow gear!" She declared.

"You worked with us before so why not stick around?" Lucy asked. Levy gave Lucy a worried look.

"Uhh... somehow I think sticking with your little gang might be bad for her health." Levy explained. Lucy blinked and gained a resigned look as she processed the truth of that statement. Seeing the little back and forth between Levy and Lucy made Wendy chuckle softly. Mira was frowning but then her eyes widened in realisation.

"Why not have her work with Garion for a while?" She asked, turning to face Levy and Lucy. "He's around her age, and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help her get a hold of the ropes. And he isn't part of a team, so she doesn't have to decide on that yet." Lucy and Levy looked at Mira for a few moments before their eyes widened in realisation. Lucy then frowned.

"Wait... I thought he was in your team?" Lucy asked, turning to look at Levy. The bookworm shook her head.

"Garion's a bit of a lone wolf when it comes to jobs. I mean sure he'll help us out whenever we ask him, but he tends to go on jobs on his own more often than not." Levy explained. The bluenette looked at Wendy for a few moments before her eyes widened in realisation. "Hey... I have an idea! Why don't, instead of him just helping her get job experience, Wendy and Garion become partners?" Lucy, Mira, Wendy and Carla all gave her a mixture of curious and wondering looks.

"Partners?" Wendy asked with a frown. For some reason though, the girl's cheeks heated up slightly. Levy nodded.

"Yeah, you two can go on jobs together and help each other out whenever either of you need it. Plus it'll keep the other teams in the guild off your back about joining them." The bookworm explained. She looked at Mira. "Dontcha think it's a good idea Mirajane?" She asked. Mira frowned for a few seconds before she nodded.

"Certainly. It'll be good for both of them in that case actually." The white haired girl smiled. "Wendy gets job experience and Garion doesn't have to go on jobs on his own anymore."

"Sounds good to me." Lucy said in agreement. "Whatcha think Wendy? Reckon it's a good idea?" The celestial wizard asked the sky maiden. Wendy frowned and quickly thought it over.

"I'm fine with it." She said with a smile after a few moments. "As long as he is, of course." Levy gave a short laugh.

"You clearly don't know Garion that well." The bookworm said wryly. "He loves helping people."

"If I may, for how long will this partnership last?" Carla asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It depends." Mira said. "If you want, it can last until you two are confident enough to go on solo jobs, or it can become a permanent arrangement."

Carla looked at Mira for a few moments before she nodded. "I suppose that's fair." She looked around. "If I may, where is that boy? He certainly seems to be absent from the guild."

"He took a job earlier." Levy explained. "Just a quick one, he'll probably be back any minute now." True to her word, Garion strolled into the guildhall about 5 seconds after Levy finished her sentence. He had an apple in his hand and was happily munching away at it as he idly moved across the guildhall towards no-where in particular.

"Hey Garion!" Mira called out to the boy. Garion paused mid bite and turned his head to look at the source of the noise. "Mind coming over here? We wanted to ask you something." Despite the apple in his mouth, he was still able to smile and he quickly made his way over.

"Hey Mira!" He said after swallowing the bit of apple that was in his mouth. He looked around and smiled at everyone else that was present. "Hey guys!"

"Hey Garion." Levy said with a smile. "We wanted to ask you, do you want to partner up with Wendy to help her get some experience going on jobs?" Garion froze mid bite and he blinked several times. He then removed his mouth from the apple to reveal a broad smile.

"Sure!" he said cheerfully. He looked at Wendy. "I'd love to help! So what kind of jobs do you wanna go on?" He asked. Levy, Lucy and Mira all smiled at his enthusiasm. Wendy frowned and scratched her chin as she thought.

"Hmm..." She said.

"Perhaps we should avoid jobs that involve fighting for now?" Carla suggested. "I hardly think it would be a good idea for you to get hurt on your first job child." Wendy looked at Carla and then nodded.

"Yeah you're right." She looked at Garion. "For now, nothing with fighting involved."

"Okay." Garion said with a nod. "No fighting, got it." He walked past Wendy and up to the request board. The sky maiden and Carla turned around to watch him. "No fighting... no fighting..." His eyes swept back and forth across the board. "Anything else you're not up for?" The boy asked, turning to face Wendy, throwing what was left of his apple away as he did so. The girl frowned but then shook her head.

"I'm fine with anything else." She said with a smile. Garion smiled back and nodded.

"Right." He turned back to face the board and kept on looking. "How much money do you need?"

"Huh?" Wendy asked, slightly confused by the question.

"What kind of rewards are you looking for? Big ones? Small ones?" Garion asked, turning back to face the blue haired girl. Wendy blinked and frowned.

"Well... We need money for rent for a room in Fairy Hills... and that's..."

"100000 jewels." Levy supplied.

"Thanks." Wendy smiled at the bookworm. "We also need some money for clothes and stuff..."

"So 100000 jewels for rent... and some money for clothes..." Garion picked two jobs off the board and turned around to show them to Wendy. "How about these ones?" Wendy and Carla leaned in to examine the jobs.

The first one read: **Help needed at Yaletown Orchid! Apples need gathering up: 50000 jewel reward.**

The second one was: **Help needed at Rosemier farm! Horses in need of caring! 75000 jewel reward.**

"Yeah those seem good." Wendy said with a nod.

"Agreed." Carla said. Garion smiled.

"Right, I'll get these signed off." He walked over to Mira and handed the request pages to her. "Could you please sign these off for Wendy?" He asked. Mira took the pages and raised an eyebrow.

"Why not you and her?" She asked.

"Because Wendy and Carla are getting the rewards, not me." Garion replied. "These are their jobs, they need the rewards not me." He smiled. "And I don't mind not getting anything." Levy and Lucy smiled at the boy whilst Mira quickly signed the jobs off as taken by Wendy and Carla. She then handed them back to Garion.

"Thanks Garion!" Wendy said gratefully. Garion looked at her and offered a beaming smile.

"My pleasure Wendy!" He said cheerfully. He walked over to the sky maiden and stopped next to her, handing the job flyers to her as he did so. "Thanks for letting me be your partner by the way! I hope we'll have lots of fun together!" He said jovially whilst grinning. Wendy couldn't help but give Garion a grin of her own.

"Me too!" She said cheerfully. Carla looked between the two and sighed.

"Yes, let's have lots of fun." She said dryly, not at all sharing in the enthusiasm of the two young wizards. Wendy turned to look at her Exceed friend and frowned.

"Carla..." Before the sky maiden could say anymore she was cut off.

"Let us get going then." Carla said impatiently. "Those jobs won't do themselves."

"Have fun you three." Levy said with a smile.

"We will!" Garion replied cheerfully. He looked at Wendy and the two nodded at each other. "Let's get going." Turning away from the group, the dual element wizard, the sky maiden and the white furred Exceed began making their way towards the guild entrance. "Which one do you guys wanna do first?" Garion asked, turning his head to look at Wendy. The sky dragon slayer frowned as she looked at the pieces of paper in her hands for a few moments before looking at Carla.

"Maybe we could do the one at Rosemier farm first?" Wendy asked her friend. The Exceed frowned but then nodded.

"If there are injured animals then it is best we attend to that job first." Carla said. "Your magic will certainly be much more useful caring for horses than gathering up apples." Wendy nodded in agreement and looked back at Garion.

"Got it." He said with a nod. The trio reached the door and Wendy and Carla walked out. They then stopped and looked around in confusion before turning around to look back into the guildhall and their confusion simply increased. "What's wrong?" Garion asked. He then realised that he was walking but he wasn't moving and that a hand was on top of his head. The boy promptly turned to see who the arm belonged to and smiled when he noticed who it was.

"Hey Gajeel!" he said cheerfully. The iron dragon slayer's left eyebrow twitched slightly.

"Squirt." Gajeel said in a flat tone. He glanced at Wendy before looking back at Garion. "Where are you running off to?"

"I'm going to help Wendy with her first jobs as a member of the guild!" The boy replied ecstatically. "I'm her partner now!" Gajeel's left eyebrow shot up the moment Garion said 'partner'.

"Partner?" He asked, his neutral expression giving way to a smirk. "What kind of partner?"

"A job partner!" Garion replied, oblivious to the real meaning of Gajeel's question. "We help each other out on jobs and stuff, and we go on jobs together!" Gajeel's smirk faded. _How come the girl gets help but I didn't!?_ Gajeel mentally grumbled.

"So why are you two go on lame ass jobs to help some farmers?" Black Steel asked flatly.

"Because those are the jobs Wendy and Carla wanted to go on." Garion answered. At the mention of the white furred Exceed, Gajeel felt his annoyance and despair at the lack of his own talking cat bubble to the surface but he squashed it before it outwardly showed.

But then Garion opened his mouth again.

"Why don't you have a talking cat like Wendy and Natsu?" He asked with a frown. "You're a dragon slayer, aren't you supposed to have one?"

"Well maybe I don't freaking need one!" Gajeel snapped. "Who says I need one huh!? Just cause I'm a dragon slayer doesn't mean I need a stupid talking cat!" Garion recoiled at Gajeel's sudden outburst but then he frowned.

"Don't you want a talking cat friend?" The boy asked. A large tick mark appeared on Gajeel's forehead.

"I don't need a freaking cat!" Gajeel snapped. "And I don't need friends!" Garion blinked.

"But I'm your friend." He said plainly. Gajeel blinked and stared at Garion for a moment before he scowled.

"Shut up." And with that, Gajeel stormed out the guildhall.

* * *

 _*Sometime later aboard a train headed for Rosemier village*_

"Could you please stop fidgeting?" Carla asked with an annoyed frown.

"Sorry." Garion quickly replied, promptly stopping his restless movements. He started again mere moments later though, he looked around, his arms twitched and he tapped his feet. His energetic personality didn't really agree with sitting still in a train for long periods of time, which was why he mostly slept through train rides. Unfortunately that wasn't an option right now considering he was practically bursting with excitement about helping Wendy.

Speaking of the blue haired dragon slayer, she was currently sitting on the bench opposite Garion with an amused smile on her face. The compartment they were in was a closed unit with a door. It had two benches on the left and right walls extending from the window to about the halfway point of the compartment. A table was located between the two opposing benches. Carla rolled her eyes as she noticed Garion had started fidgeting again.

"Goodness..." She murmured under her breath. Wendy glanced down at Carla before looking back up at Garion.

"Thanks again for taking the time to help us." Wendy said gratefully. Garion smiled warmly at her.

"It's not a problem. Friends are supposed to help each other." He said cheerfully. "So whatcha think of Fairy Tail? Pretty awesome right?" Carla raised an eyebrow.

"That's debatable..." Carla said dryly.

"It's great!" Wendy said cheerfully. "Everyone's just so friendly and nice! And the guild hall is awesome!" Hearing those words made Garion's smile grow wider.

"Great to hear!" He said cheerfully. "It might seem a bit weird sometimes, but everyone really cares about everyone else! And we've got tons of cool wizards like Erza, Gray, Gildarts, the master, Mira, Natsu..." Garion frowned and tapped his jawline with his index finger as he thought of other cool wizards in Fairy Tail. "... Cana, Levy, Juvia, Lucy and Gajeel!" He finished cheerfully. Carla raised an eyebrow. _He didn't mention himself..._

"I hope I get to be friends with all of them." Wendy said with a cheerful smile. "What about you?" She asked, curious about the sandy haired boy. Garion blinked and gave Wendy a confused look.

"What about me?" He asked in a confused voice. "What do you mean?" Wendy suddenly felt both nervous and shy simultaneously.

"Well... what I mean is... you're also cool!" She said shyly, heat rushing to her cheeks. Garion blinked and stared at her. "Your light magic is really nice... and your wings are cool too!" The sky maiden said quickly, now twitching slightly. "So I was just wondering if you could tell me more about yourself and your magic!" She said. Garion scratched the back of his neck, some colour present in his cheeks.

"It isn't that cool..." He said weakly. "Your magic is also really cool. All the dragon slayers are." The boy said, giving a weak smile. Wendy smiled meekly.

"Thanks..." she said. Garion scratched his head again and Wendy looked out the window. Carla looked between the two. _That's a surprise. Despite Garion's overt friendliness and ability to talk to people older than him... he doesn't seem to be so good at talking to people closer to his age_ the exceed mused. Wendy looked back at Garion, who was now staring at the door. "So... how long have you been at Fairy Tail?"

Garion looked back at her. "11 years." He said, his usual cheer coming back. "Although I technically only joined about 9 years ago. For the first two master just kept me there since it was easier to look after me when I was close by. He then decided I might as well join the guild and he made me a member." The boy leaned on the backrest behind him, a smile on his face.

"11 years?" Wendy asked with slightly wide eyes. "How old are you?"

"14." Garion said. "My birthday was in August." His smile faded a bit. Due to the fact he'd been out getting money for his house, he hadn't had a real birthday party this year. Since Levy hadn't said anything to him about it, aside from wishing him a late happy birthday a week or so ago, he'd assumed he wouldn't get one. "How old are you?" Garion asked with a tilt of his head.

"12." Wendy said. She then gained a somewhat embarrassed look and looked out the window. "And I... have no idea when my birthday is..." Garion blinked and then frowned.

"How do you not know?" He asked. Wendy turned her head to look at him.

"I can't remember... and Grandeeney never told me about it..." Garion's smile fell.

"That sucks. I'd hate it if I didn't know when my birthday was." He said sadly. "If you don't mind me asking... what was Grandeeney like? I've heard Natsu talk about Igneel, apparently he was very grumpy but really kind." Wendy giggled slightly, the image of a giant, grumpy looking fire dragon forming in her mind at Garion's words. She then smiled at Garion.

"I don't mind." Wendy said. "She was kind, the kindest dragon you could ever imagine. And she was beautiful too. Not that she ever admitted it." Wendy's smile grew as she recalled fond memories of her time with the sky dragon. "I still don't know where she could have gone... or why she left... but I won't give up until I find her!" The sky maiden said with determination.

"I'm sure you will." Garion said. "Hey if you want... I could help you find her!" Carla raised an eyebrow.

"You're quick to offer assistance aren't you?" She asked. Garion looked at her and frowned.

"Assit-what?" He asked. Carla nearly face-palmed.

"Help. You're quick to offer help, aren't you?" the Exceed clarified. Garion frowned again.

"Of course. She's my friend, why wouldn't I help her?" He asked. Carla looked at the boy. _I... guess that's a good enough reason..._ The exceed thought. _In his case anyway._

Wendy smiled at Garion. His open declaration of friendship, despite her having heard it already, made happiness rise within her. She was happy that she'd barely been in Fairy Tail for a day yet she already had a friend. "Thanks Garion. If you want to help you can... I'd appreciate it." She said somewhat nervously.

Garion beamed at her. "It'll be my pleas-"

Before Garion could finish the cabin was briefly bathed completely in white. Then...

 _*BOOM*_

The sudden crack of thunder caused Wendy and Carla to jump in their seats and snap their heads to the window. A thunderstorm was raging off rather close to the side of the train, but as Wendy followed the clouds with her eyes, she realised that the train was heading into the storm. "We didn't bring an umbrella..." Carla said, eyeing the nearby storm with disdain.

"If it's raining in Rosemier we might not be able to..." The words died on Wendy's lips as she looked across the room. Her eyes widened in shock. "Garion?" She asked. The boy in question was hunched over, legs drawn into his chest, shaking slightly and had his back to the window. From what Wendy could see of his face he'd gone pale. "Are you alright?" The sky maiden asked with worry in her voice. The boy looked at her with scared, nervous eyes.

"... I don't like thunder..." He said weakly. "It's too-"

 _*BOOM*_

"EEEK!" Garion let out a high pitched squeal at the extremely loud crack of thunder whilst Wendy just jumped in her seat slightly. He peeked out from behind his arms.

"... too loud."

Carla looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Are you scared of thunder?" She asked, sounding both surprised and amused. Garion nodded weakly in reply. He then looked at Wendy.

"Aren't you... scared?" He asked meekly. Wendy gave a small smile in reply.

"A little bit." She admitted. "But Grandeeney told that lightning never hits people and that thunder is just the really loud snores of a lightning dragon, so I don't need to be afraid of it." The sky maiden explained. Carla raised an eyebrow at her best friend.

"That's... an interesting way to describe a thunderstorm." the Exceed said.

 _*BOOM*_

Garion again yelped and pulled himself into an even tighter ball, slamming his hands against his ears. Carla rolled her eyes before sighing. She eyed the window as rain drops began to pit-pat against it. "Well as far as I'm concerned, the job is placed on hold until this weather passes over." She held up a paw to stop any possible argument. "I won't let you use your healing magic and tire yourself out when there's such a good chance of you catching cold Wendy." The exceed said determinedly. "Until the storm blows over we are taking shelter somewhere in the village where it is warm and dry." She looked between the two humans in the compartment. "And that is final."

Garion nodded mutely in reply. "Okay Carla.' Wendy said in understanding. She then looked at Garion again. His shivering, scared form made Wendy want to say something, anything to try and make the boy feel better.

But words failed her, and so the trio sat in silence for the remainder of the journey.

* * *

 _*Rosemier village train station*_

Garion and Wendy stood inside the train station and looked out at the pouring rain that was hammering down on the small village. They had managed to purchase an umbrella in order to stave off the rain, but now faced the problem of finding somewhere to stay. The sky maiden shivered as the cold wind blew against her skin, her green dress not exactly the best thing to wear in cold weather. Garion was shivering as well, but from a combination of cold and fear of thunder, which boomed through the sky every minute or so.

"I've located an inn." Carla said as she walked back to the two after she'd gone to get directions to the nearest inn/tavern. "We can stay there until this storm blows over."

"How long is it gonna last?" Garion asked meekly.

"The man I got directions from believes it will last overnight, meaning we aren't going anywhere anytime soon." Carla replied. Wendy nodded.

"He was right. This is gonna last till at least tomorrow morning." She explained. Garion looked at her with a confused expression.

"How do you know?" He asked, curiosity and confusion in his voice. The sky maiden gave him a nervous smile.

"Well... since I'm the sky dragon slayer... I can predict the weather... kind of..." She explained shyly. Garion's eyes widened.

"That's so cool..." He said.

 _*BOOM*_

"EEEK!" Garion yelped and bolted back a few feet. Carla rolled her eyes again.

"Enough dilly dallying, let's get a move on." She said sternly. Garion nodded and meekly stepped forward. Once Wendy opened the umbrella, she stepped into the rain, her shoes knocking water flying into the air due to the amount of water on the street. Garion then bolted under the umbrella, and was practically clinging to Wendy.

"G-Garion?" Wendy said in a weak voice, the boy's sudden proximity alarming her.

 _*BOOM*_

"EEEK!" Garion yelped again and unconsciously gripped Wendy's left arm. Colour and heat exploded onto the girl's cheeks as Garion pressed into her side.

"G-Garion?" She said again, even weaker this time.

"For goodness sake it's just a bit of noise!" Carla said in an infuriated tone. She then sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Of all the wizards in this guild..." She muttered. "And stop clinging to Wendy!" the Exceed snapped.

* _BOOM*_

Carla's eyebrow twitched as Garion yelped yet again and clung to Wendy even more. The sky maiden by this point was a lovely shade of red. "C-Carla..."

"We'd need a crowbar to get him off at this point." The Exceed said dryly. "Let's just get to the inn." And so the trio somewhat awkwardly made their way through the rain blasted streets to the inn. With each _boom_ of thunder Garion's grip on Wendy got tighter and tighter, but somehow he avoided actually hurting the sky maiden. Of course, it didn't matter since her face had gotten redder and hotter each second the boy had been clinging to her. Eventually they passed through the door of the inn and as they slammed the door and stood in the somewhat plain hallway, Carla rounded on Garion. "You can let go of Wendy now." She said sternly.

Garion opened his eyes and realised they weren't outside anymore. He then turned his head and froze when he was face to face with Wendy, mere inches separating them. For exactly a second, he did nothing. Then...

"AAAH!" Garion bolted backwards, his cheeks bright red. "W-Wendy I'm sor-"

 _*BOOM*_

"EEEK!" Garion squealed and slammed his hands against his ears. His face was in a strange flux between pale and bright red.

"I-it's... f-fine..." Wendy said weakly, the blush on her cheeks slowly fading. A fading warmth was present where Garion had been clinging to her.

"Let's get a room booked." Carla said. Wendy nodded.

"O-Okay." She said, still recovering. She'd never been in physical contact with anyone like that before, and she felt extremely awkward and embarrassed as she followed Carla. Garion was as well, but it was somewhat overridden by his fear of thunder. Tentatively the boy followed the Exceed and the sky maiden. Carla quickly managed to get a large room with two beds secured and the trio went upstairs to explore their room. It was rather simple, a bed on the left wall of the room and a bed on the right wall of the room, each with a cupboard and nightstand. Wendy and Carla took the right bed, Garion took the left bed. Sudden exhaustion overtook Garion and he collapsed on his bed and was fast asleep in mere moments. Carla and Wendy sat down on the opposite bed, not quite as tired.

"Are you alright child?" Carla asked, turning to face Wendy. "He was being rather rude just now."

"I-It's fine." Wendy said nervously. "H-He's just scared of thunder... I doubt he was really thinking straight."

"Perhaps..." Carla said, sounding skeptical. She then sighed. "I'm looking forward to getting these jobs finished. The sooner they are the sooner we can drop this bumbling buffoon."

"Carla!" Wendy said in a shocked voice, her eyes wide. "D-don't say that about Garion!"

"Oh? Well I don't see a reason why not. If anything he's been more of a hindrance than help to us since we met him. First we had to save his life, now we have to deal with him barely able to compose a rational thought." Carla said coldly. "We'd be better off on our own after this." Wendy blinked and opened her mouth to say something but couldn't think of anything to say that would counter Carla's statement. She hung her head.

"I... Carla..."

"Get some sleep child." Carla said in a softer voice. "You'll need your energy for tomorrow." Wendy looked at her Exceed friend. She then looked at Garion, who was peacefully sleeping, lying on his stomach. The girl nodded.

"Okay."

* * *

 **And that's the chapter! Thank you all so very much for reading, and I apologise for this being late and/or any mistakes/errors I made in this chapter. In case you're wondering, I have exams. Basically from now until the end of the year I have exams, which sucks, but it also means I won't be able to write as much fanfiction as usual, so chapters will not be regular until the end of November, but I'll try my best to get ones out when I can.**

 **So yeah, Garion, Wendy and Carla are on some non-dangerous jobs, since I figured Carla wouldn't approve of Wendy rushing headlong into danger the moment she switches guilds. Plus it gives me space to focus on the characters and build the all important relationship between Garion and Wendy. Their friendship is basically the focus of this arc, and then we get onto Edolas, which has a big surprise in it waiting for you guys and gals. So anyway, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and see you in the next chapter!**

 **Adios!**


	12. First quest

**So... uh... hey there. First of all:**

 **I'M SO SORRY FOR BEING A LAZY ASS AND NOT POSTING/WRITING ANYTHING FOR LIKE 3 MONTHS.**

 **I'm sorry this chapter took forever to come out, especially after I said chapters would resume again in December... which means I'm about 3 months late on getting regular updates back on track. Yeah... that's bad, and I am very, very, _very_ sorry about the fact I am a lazy ass (also the fact a friend introduced me to a really fun MMO didn't help, but I'm not using it as a excuse). **

**In advance, I'm sorry this chapter is short compared to the rest in the story, but I need to ease myself back into writing, and I promise future ones will be longer (and possibly better written, assuming I screwed this one up, which I really hope I didn't.)**

 **BUT, from now on no more delays! Every month will see the release of a chapter! I promise! I will stop being a lazy ass and get back to writing, once more, I promise! So without further adieu, let's get back to what our hero and heroine are up too!**

 **Also I hope all you lovely people have been having a wonderful year thus far and will continue to do so!  
**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own FT etc. etc. etc.  
**

* * *

* _Fairy Tail Guild hall, about an hour after Garion, Wendy and Carla have left.*_

Makarov lowered his mug and looked around the guildhall with a smile. From his vantage point atop the bar, he could see Jet and Droy standing around Levy whilst (obviously) doing a terrible job of trying to flirt with her. Gajeel was sitting in a corner with a cloud hanging over his head for some reason, Cana was deliriously drunk and giggling to herself whilst resting her head on a table nearby, Natsu was inhaling food to Makarov's left as Happy and Lucy watched (the latter in disgust) and Gray was losing his clothes to Makarov's right whilst being oogled by Juvia, who was being ignored.

Makarov was silently thankful that Gray and Natsu hadn't started fighting... _yet_ , despite being within insult speaking and punch throwing distance.

Mira hummed to herself as she cleaned up behind the bar. Makarov lifted his mug to take another sip of the beverage inside when he caught sight of Erza walking towards the bar with a serious, yet worried, look on her face. Makarov took a deep breath. He knew that look never meant anything good.

"Master." The S-class mage said as she stopped in front of the bar. "There is something I need to discuss with you." Natsu turned his head to look at Erza.

"Mphh Mphha!" He said, his mouth full of food. Erza shot him a sideways look which made the dragon slayer start sweating bullets.

"What have I told you about speaking with your mouth full Natsu?" She asked, her voice as sharp as a knife's edge. The fire dragon slayer loudly gulped down the rest of his food as fast as he could whilst still withering under the intensity of Erza's glare.

"I musn't do it!" He said quickly. Gray rolled his eyes.

"Dumbass." He muttered. The only thing that kept Natsu from hurling abuse and/or punches at Gray was the presence of Makarov and Erza. Said redhead stared at Natsu for another five seconds before turning her attention back to Makarov.

"What's the matter Erza?" Makarov asked before taking a long drink from his mug.

"Do you know what happened to Garion's parents?" The S-class mage asked bluntly. The moment Erza said 'parents' Makarov blew all the liquid out of his mouth in a rather comical fashion towards Natsu, which left the fire dragon slayer soaked in a thin layer of alcohol. The guild master pounded on his own chest with his fist before he looked up at Erza with a frown.

"Garion's parents!?" Makarov replied, confused and alarmed as to why Erza was asking him about it. Everyone at the bar immediately turned their attention to Titania. "Why are you asking about them?"

"Because when we encountered the Oracion Seis for the first time, their leader, Brain, spoke directly to Garion." Erza explained. "He mentioned to Garion the fate of his parents. Apparently... they managed to save Garion from Brain, and Brain made them pay for it..." Gray blinked and a look of realisation crossed his face before he slapped his hand against his forehead in frustration.

"Dammit we forgot to interrogate that creep about Garion's parents!" The ice wizard snapped in annoyance. "Damn Rune Knights..." Mira, who had been listening in, frowned.

"How come Garion didn't mention it the whole of today or yesterday?" She asked.

"You said he passed out not long after Nirvana was destroyed?" Makarov asked, looking at Erza. The redhead nodded. "I see... considering Garion, he probably was more focused on stopping Nirvana than learning about his parents, so it probably slipped his mind." The guidlmaster sighed. _That boy... he's got a bad habit of forgetting about his own problems when he needs to help other people with theirs._ He shook his head. _Whether that's a good or bad thing time will have to tell._

"So... what happened to Garion's parents? And why did Brain have such a huge interest in Garion?" Lucy asked, despite knowing what the answer to the first question most likely was, as she looked between Erza and Makarov. The guildmaster looked at the celestial wizard.

"I only know the answer to your first question." Makarov said honestly. _And I think I know the answer to the second one, assuming I'm not wrong about his mother._ He looked around. "But I assume you've all been able to figure it out yourself?" The group nodded gravely in response. "Then I ask that you do not tell Garion. It is my responsibility to do so."

"I understand. I will not mention this to Garion, unless you wish for me to do so." Erza said. Makarov inclined his head in thanks before he jumped off the bar.

"That goes for the rest of you." The guildmaster said, looking at the group. They all nodded. Makarov then turned and started making his way towards his office, pondering the issue that now sat before him.

 _I wasn't planning on telling him until he was older... but_ _now..._ The guildmaster let out a weary sigh.

 _Garion my boy... just what is it about you that Brain was so interested in? And just what exactly is your magic?  
_

He then stopped at the door to his office, just as his hand was about to grab the handle. His eyes were wide and he completely froze as he let out a soft, shocked gasp.

 _Unless... his mother... but...no, that's impossible..._

* * *

* _Early morning of the next day*_

Wendy slowly opened her eyes to the sight of the wooden roof overhead. She was surprised she'd managed to fall asleep during the storm last night, considering the howling wind and rain. Moving her arms up, she wiped the sleep from her eyes before looking at Carla who was asleep next to her on her left. The sky dragon slayer smiled softly and looked across the room. Rays of golden sunlight poured through the window in the middle of the room and landed on the green carpet, and as Wendy looked at them the rest of the room got slightly darker.

Looking past the rays of light, Wendy saw Garion sound asleep on the bed on the far side of the room. His sandy-blond hair was ruffled, he was splayed out on the bed, but a look of peace was upon his face. As Wendy looked at him, the memories of the previous evening surfaced in her mind and a blush burst into life on her face as the previous feelings of awkwardness and embarrasment surfaced once more. Yet at the same time, her heart fluttered with a faint warmth that was unfamiliar yet rather pleasant. Her mind strayed onto how he'd held onto her arm for dear life, yet he'd somehow avoided hurting her. Then the moment when their faces had been inches apart...

The Sky dragon Slayer violently shook her head for a few seconds as her blush got worse, utterly confused as to why she was remembering every little detail. Her confusion was worsened by her conflicting feelings of awkwardness and the strange warmth in her heart. She held her hands against her cheeks, which felt like they were on fire.

 _W-Why do I f-feel so awkward? H-He was just scared of the storm! T-That's why he ran under the umbrella._ She thought, panic welling up inside of her. Yet despite all this, a very small part of her, in the back of her mind, had in fact, enjoyed the close proximity to Garion the previous evening. However, this went unnoticed by her as she tried to calm herself.

Thankfully Wendy was saved from turning into a nervous wreck by Carla, who began to awaken, letting out a soft yawn before rubbing her eyes. "Good morning Wendy." She said, sitting up. The Sky Maiden nearly jumped out of her skin when Carla spoke, but thankfully the Exceed was still too sleepy to notice.

"Good morning Carla." Wendy said back with a weak smile. The Exceed noticed the sunlight and a look of relief swept onto her features.

"Hopefully we can avoid anymore storms while we are here. I'm not a fan of the rain, honestly." Carla stretched before jumping off the bed, Wendy quickly following. The blue haired girl walked across the room and stood next to Garion's bed. The boy kept sleeping peacefully. Wendy felt her cheeks heat up again as she looked at him.

"Should we wake him up or wait for him to wake up?" Wendy asked, managing to keep her voice even as she turned to her best friend. The Exceed only considered it for a moment before answering.

"Wake him up." She said firmly. "We can't waste any time and we need to get this job done as soon as possible." _And get rid of this buffoon as quickly as possible._ Carla thought. The Exceed flew up onto the bed and landed next to Garion's head. "Wake up!" She snapped in his ear. Garion's eyes instantly opened and he blinked several times whilst staring at the ceiling. He then turned his head to look at Wendy and Carla. The moment he made eye contact with Wendy her awkwardness threatened to boil over and she barely managed to avoid not saying hello or stammering.

"Good morning Garion!" She said as cheerfully as she could manage. He beamed back at her.

"Morning Wendy!" He said in a very cheerful voice. He then noticed Carla standing next to him. "Morning Carla!" He said cheerfully.

"Good morning." She said politely, but with the warmth of a snowstorm. Even Garion was able to pick up the hostility in her voice and he blinked in confusion.

"Carla?" He asked. "W-What's wrong?"

"Aside from your complete lack of respect for Wendy's personal space? Oh absolutely _nothing,_ I assure you." Carla said, her voice colder than a winter's evening and dripping with enough sarcasm to fill a lake. Garion looked hurt from Carla's comment but before he could responed she jumped off the bed and walked to the door. "Come along now, we need to get to Rosemier Farm and get the request filled." She said sternly. Garion slowly sat up and yawned, stretching his arms over his head as he did so. Carla stopped at the door and turned around fixing her eyes on Garion.

"Listen here _boy_ and listen well, Wendy is not some object you can just manhandle, like you did yesterday. She is a person, a person that is under _my_ protection. You are to _never_ behave that way around her again, you are to apologise to her immediately, and you are to _never_ intrude on her personal space again are we clear?" Carla said, her tone still as cold as before, but now bearing some malice. "In addition, once we return to the guild, you are to _never_ ask her to accompany you on a job again, understood?"

"Carla!" Wendy protested, but was stopped from saying anything more when the Exceed shot her a serious look.

"I am doing this for your own good child." Carla said before turning back to Garion who had, by this point, figured out what Carla was talking about and now felt extremely awkward and embarrased.

"I... I'm..." He stammered, feeling extremely bad about the previous evening.

"Are you even _aware_ of the concept of personal space?" Carla asked, her tone now colder than an iceberg. "Personally I can't tell if you're just stupid or incredibly ignorant, since I find it highly unbelievable that someone can be so scared of a storm that they completely lose the ability to think reasonably."

"CARLA!" Wendy nearly shouted. "Don't say things like that about Garion!" Carla looked at Wendy for a few moments before sighing.

"Very well, my apologies." She said, not even remotely sounding sorry, her voice underlined with sarcasm.

"I'm... sorry... Wendy." Garion said in the sincerest voice he could, an expression of embarrasment and guilt on his face. "I'm... sorry about... y-yesterday. It's just... I'm really scared of thunder and I-"

"That's enough. Wendy, do you accept his apology?" Carl asked. Wendy looked at the expression on Garion's face and felt her heart twist in her chest.

"Yes I do." She said without thinking. The boy's face visibly lightened up at her words, but guilt still stained his expression.

"Very well then, come along child, we have a job to do." The Exceed said before turning and walking to the door. Wendy glanced at Garion and wanted to say something, but words failed her, and she followed after Carla.

After a quick breakfast the trio set out towards the farm, which was a five minute walk from town. On the way, Garion and Wendy took in the beauty of the bright green fields around the village, which flanked the cobblestone road that they were on. They engaged in little-to-no conversation, mainly thanks to Carla and her open hostility towards Garion and partly thanks to the lingering awkwardness between the two. Wendy could barely manage to glance at Garion, the guilty look on his face making her heart twist in her chest. She did glance one or two angry looks at Carla, but each time she did, the Exceed was looking away.

Eventually they reached the farm, a small collection of wood and stone buildings of various sizes. Several cows were present on a nearby field, being tended to by a group of workers. A low cobblestone wall blocked off access to the farm from the road, save for a double wooden gate which was a deep brown in colour. Garion pushed the gate gently and it swung open without any protest.

The Fairy Tail wizards made their way across the large courtyard, briefly stopping to examine the small stone well at the centre of it. They headed towards the central building, a wide, single story house comprised of both stone and wood in its construction. Whilst it lacked any kind of external decoration or a coat of paint which didn't look like manure, there wasn't a crack in the walls nor a dent in the roof.

The trio stopped in front of a thick wooden door on the side of the house. Garion moved onto the small step in front of it before he reached up and knocked on the door. Before he'd even lifted his fist from the first knock, the door swung inwards and revealed the giant of a man standing behind it. Garion had to look up to see the man's face.

"Hello my friends!" He declared cheerful in a deep, booming voice which resonated warmth and friendliness. A grin was plastered onto Garion's face the moment the man spoke, albeit it was a more subdued one than usual. A small smile lit up Wendy's face as well, but Carla didn't even so much as blink when she saw the farmer. The farmer wore a simple blue cotton shirt which was covered in dirt underneath his brown overalls, which reached down and disappeared into his brown boots. His dark brown eyes landed on Wendy's guild mark and he grinned even further. "I see! You are the ones who are here to help me with the horses, yes?"

"Yes sir!" Garion said cheerfully, but Wendy could tell it wasn't up to his usual level of cheer. "Wendy knows healing magic, so she'll be able to make your horses feel better in no time!" Wendy nodded.

"I'll do everything I can to help!" She said enthusiastically, trying her best not to feel nervous. Not that it was hard, the farmer's warmth and friendliness seemed to have a calming effect on Wendy.

"But I must point out that Wendy's magic is very taxing on her body, so if there are a great number of horses that need tending to then she won't heal them all at once." Carla stated firmly.

"I understand perfectly miss." The man said. He held a hand over his heart. "My name is Braumel, it is a pleasure to meet you all!" He declared. He stepped down from the doorway and shut the door behind him. "The horses are just this way, my friends. There are not many, thankfully." He gestured for the trio to follow him and he started moving across the courtyard with long and powerful, but slow, strides. The Fairy Tail wizards quickly fell in behind him.

"May I ask, what exactly happened to your horses?" Carla asked.

"A storm struck the farm a few days ago, it did quite a bit of damage to my stable." The farmer explained. "Unfortunately seven horses were injured as well, nothing too serious, but there's a horse racing event coming up on the weekend and I've rented my horses out to the organisers, so I need them to recover as quickly as possible." He flashed the wizards a grin. "But I do not think that will be a problem with your help, my friends!" He said cheerfully. They reached and entered the stable and as Braumel approached the horses the animals all turned to look at him. As said, seven bore bandages wrapped around parts of their bodies, and two of them were sitting down. "Hello again my friends, I have good people here who will tend to your wounds. Fear not, you can trust them."

His words caused any tension in the horses to disappear and they all looked at Wendy and Garion. Some were interested, others weren't and simply looked away once they'd seen the two humans. The group stopped in front of a horse with slightly stained white bandages wrapped around the centre of its body and front legs, which was shuffling away from the humans as best it could in the enclosure it was in. It was clearly in a great deal of pain, judging from its facial expression. "I think starting with the most injured ones first and then moving onto the least injured ones would be a good idea." The farmer said. Wendy and Garion nodded.

"Indeed." Carla said. Braumel nodded and half a minute later he'd managed to get the heavily bandaged horse to stand still in front of Wendy. The Sky dragon slayer raised her hands and they started glowing as she reached towards the horse. Her face was set in an expression of concentration as she worked to heal all the horse's injuries. The animal looked at Wendy with confusion and alarm and huffed at her at first, but then once it realised that the pain in its body was fading, it stopped moving.

When Wendy finished healing the horse she took a step back and Braumel began carefully removing the bandages from the horse. His eyes widened in amazement as he examined the now un-injured horse. "Incredible..." He muttered. Wendy smiled before moving onto the next horse, her hands gaining the signature glow as she raised them. As she worked Carla kept her gaze focused solely on her, and so did Garion, but with significantly less intensity, and the occasional look around at the surrounding area. A butterfly near the enterance to the stable caught his attention for a bit before it fluttered off above the roof.

As Wendy lowered her arms from healing the seventh horse she let out a tired sigh. Much like he had done with all the other horses once Wendy had finished healing them, Braumel immediately removed the bandages from the horse and did a run-over of where the animal's injuries had been. Just like the last five times he gave a satisfied nod.

Wendy took a few steps back and let her shoulders sag. "Good work Wendy." Carla said in a complimentary voice.

"Thanks Carla." Wendy said, turning her head to look at her best friend.

"I thank you greatly, my friends." Braumel decalred, his voice dripping with honesty. "Truly, I was lucky to recieve aid from such helpful young wizards such as yourselves. If you wish, I could give you the finest lunch I can provide to go along with your reward." The farmer gave a deep, hearty laugh. "After all, mother always said, reward those who help you." He looked between the three young wizards. "So? What is your choice, my friends?"

"Um..." Garion looked at Wendy and his feelings of awkwardness and guilt flared up again but he managed to speak. "W-What do you guys want? It's your job."

"Well... we didn't get that much to eat at breakfast, and I am kinda hungry so I'm fine with it." Wendy said. She then looked at Carla. "What do you think Carla?"

"Whilst I would prefer us getting our first jobs done as quickly as possible, attempting to do so on an empty stomach is a foolish idea. After all, our breakfast was hardly that substantial." Carla said curtly.

"Substa-what?" Garion asked. Carla rolled her eyes.

"Nothing to worry about, _boy._ " Carla replied in a cold voice.

Braumel clapped his hands together. "It is decided then! I shall treat you to the finest food I can provide, within the next half hour or so of course."

Wendy gave the man a small smile. "Thank you mister!"

"Please, call me Braumel, my friend."

 _*About 10 minutes later...*_

Wendy stepped out of the southern door of the farmhouse and looked around. Having spent a good portion of the last 7 minutes trying to, and barely succeeding, in convincing Carla to let her go and talk to Garion(unfortunately this compromise didn't extend to the 'no longer allowed to take jobs with Wendy' rule that the Exceed had thrown down eariler in the day), the Sky Maiden was determined to find the boy and make right the wrongs that had occured. Her expression fell a bit when she couldn't see Garion in the immediate vicinity but she then shook her head.

 _I need to find him and talk to him about... yesterday..._ Just the mere thought of it brought the memories to the surface of the girl's mind and a blush broke out on her cheeks again as the feelings of awkwardness and embarrasment welled up inside him. She promptly shook her head for a few seconds to try and help with her focus. _Since I can't see him... I guess I'll just have to wander around until I find him..._

She then had an idea.

 _If I could catch his scent then it'd be easier to find out where he is... but... what does he smell like?_ Heat rose in her cheeks slightly as she thought of that. After nearly a minute, she sighed in resignation. _I don't know what he smells like... so I'll just have to find him by looking..._ Determined, and feeling a bit nervous, to set things right with her new, close friend, the Sky Dragon Slayer set off in search of the young boy.

Garion was sitting on a short tree stump roughly north of the farmhouse and was looking out at a small collection of trees which were seperated from the farm by a thin cobblestone wall. He still felt bad about the events of the previous day, and Carla's lecture was still fresh in his mind. He let his head flop forward into his hands. _Did I mess up? B-Because I'm so scared of thunder...I was weird and made Wendy feel uncomfortable? A-And now... Carla's mad at me... and probably so is Wendy... and I won't get to go on jobs with her after these ones...  
_

"Garion?" A gentle voice called, snapping the boy out of his thoughts. His head whipped up and around and his eyes widened slightly when he saw Wendy nervously standing a few feet away.

"W-Wendy?" He asked. "W-Why are you here?" The Sky Maiden looked away awkwardly.

"I.. uh... wanted to t-talk to you..." She said nervously. Garion blinked.

"O-Oh okay..." He looked away and Wendy sat down on the other stump, which was about a meter or so away from the one Garion was sitting on. Several seconds of awkward silence passed between them as Garion's feelings of guilt and embarrasment built alongside Wendy's feelings of awkwardness and embarrasment.

"I'm s-sorry." Garion blurted out, guilt present in his expression. "I... yesterday... I'm s-sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable... I... I'm just really scared of thunder... and I... just... I couldn't think straight... I'm s-sorry... you're... probably mad at me aren't you?" The boy started to shake slightly. "I-I promise I won't do anything like that again!"

"N-No it's fine!" Wendy said quickly, the look on Garion's face making her heart twist in her chest. "I-I'm not mad at you o-or anything! I-I know you weren't doing it on purpose, s-so i-i'm not mad at you!"

"B-But still... I s-shouldn't have done that." Garion replied, not looking at Wendy. "N-No good friend would a-act like that..."

"Y-You were just scared Garion." Wendy said. She was trying to think of something to say, something that could help Garion. With each passing second, she knew his feelings of guilt about the situation were getting worse, but she couldn't think of anything to say.

But then, she started talking without even thinking about what she was saying.

"R-Remember the Oracion Seis and how s-scared I was of them?" She asked, her voice slowly getting stronger. "I was so scared I that I couldn't even move at one point. I was probably even more scared then you were yesterday." Her voice was now quite strong, but she still felt unsure about what she was saying, and if it would even help. "I wanted to run away, and I probably would've, if you hadn't been there..." Her face suddenly heated up a little. "So I know how you felt, and I know that you didn't do what you did on purpose. And I'm not mad at you, I swear!" Garion looked at her, an expression of relief on his face.

"Y-You're really not mad at me?" He asked. Wendy nodded and gave him a weak smile.

"Y-you didn't mean it, and you said sorry, so why should I be?" She asked, trying to sound as sure as possible. For the first time that day, Garion grinned his signature grin.

"Thanks Wendy! You're the best!" He said, his cheer returning so fast Wendy nearly got whiplash. Her face warmed up as did her heart (which audibly began pounding in her chest) at the words 'You're the best'. "I promise I won't do something like that again okay?" He said sincerely. Wendy opened her mouth to speak but then, as if a light bulb suddenly had gone _***DING***_ above her head, she had an idea.

"Okay, but I'm going to help you!" She said, feeling slightly nervous but managing a smile. "I'm going to help you get over your fear of thunder!"

"Huh?" Garion asked, giving Wendy a confused look. The Sky Dragon Slayer felt her face heat up a little bit as a faint blush crept onto her cheeks.

"Well... it's just... you're helping me and Carla so much." She said shyly, looking away from the boy. "Especially how you helped stop Nirvana." A brief stab of sadness struck her heart at the thought of her previous guild, but she ignored it. "I can't think of a way to thank you, so I'm going to help you get over your fear of thunder!" She said as enthusiastically as she could manage, looking back at Garion as she did so. "I'm not exactly sure how, but I'll try!"

"B-But you don't need to thank me." Garion said with a smile. "I'm helping you out like any friend would, I don't need you to thank me for it." His smie faded a bit. "Besides, I still haven't made it up to you for not keeping my promise." The boy added. Wendy blinked and stared at Garion for a second with confusion before her eyes widened.

"A-Are you talking about the promise you made to protect me?" The Sky dragon slayer asked, surprised that the light wizard was still intent on making that up to her. Garion nodded. "B-But I said i-it was fine, and w-we stopped Nirvana so everything turned out alright in the end!"

"I-I know, but I made a promise and I couldn't keep it, and I need to make that up to you." Garion smiled, albeit slightly nervously. Wendy just stared at Garion for a couple of moments. _H-He's really serious about the promises he makes..._ The edges of Wendy's mouth curled upwards slightly into a smile, albeit it wasn't a conscious action Wendy did.

"Okay, but I'm still going to help you with your fear of thunder! That's a promise!" Wendy said, managing to sound confident despite her nervousness as to whether or not she could actually help the boy and if she was simply making an empty promise.

But hey, it never hurt to try right?

"B-But I-" Garion started.

"Garion, you're my friend and I want to help you." Wendy said sincerely, despite her nervousness. Garion blinked and stared at Wendy, and the two made eye-contact. After a few seconds both of them suddenly blinked and realised that they'd been staring at each other and both turned away quickly in emabbarrsment, their faces flushed red. For nearly a minute neither of them spoke and instead stewed in their nervousness and embarrasment. Then...

"T-Thanks Wendy." Garion said, still not looking at Wendy and barely managing to avoid stuttering. He felt confused and worried as to why making eye-contact with Wendy just now made his face feel hot and his heart warm up. Likewise, the Sky dragon slayer was dealing with the same problem.

"F-For?" Wendy asked, turning her head slightly in the direction of Garion's voice.

"W-Wanting to help with my f-fear of thunder..." He said. Wendy nervously glanced over her shoulder at the boy and stared at him for a few seconds before she managed a small smile, despite her embarrasment and confusion.

"I-It's what friends d-do right?" Wendy asked. Garion nodded and despite his emotional state of confusion, a small smile appeared on his face.

"Y-Yeah..." Garion replied. He looked over his shoulder at Wendy. The two made eye-contact agai-

"LUNCH IS PREPARED MY FRIENDS!" Braumel's voice boomed from the farmhouse, startling both the mages.

"I-I guess we should go back inside?" Garion asked. Wendy nodded.

"Y-Yeah... I guess we shoul-" A low rumble filled the air, cutting Wendy off mid sentence. The two mages blinked in confusion before Garion gave a nervous laugh.

"S-Sorry about that... I guess I'm a bit hungry..." He said sheepishly. Wendy stared at him for a solid three seconds before she giggled slightly. Garion joined in a few moments later, adding in his own little chuckle.

"That sounds like a good idea." Wendy said after she'd finished giggling. "I'm a bit hungry myself."

"W-Well then, let's go get some food!" Garion said cheerfully, pumping his arm into the air. Wendy smiled and, despite her shyness, also pumped her arm into the air.

"Yeah!" As the two walked back to the house, the wind picked up slightly, and a gust of wind swept over the pair, first hitting Garion, then Wendy. The sky dragon slayer's eyes widened for a moment before she smiled.

Garion's scent was that of fresh apples.

* * *

 **And thus, I'm back. Once again, I am so sorry that this chapter was A) horribly, _horribly_ late and B) That it's kinda short and probably a bit rushed, but I'm quite happy that what I've put down here is a good bit of story (Hopefully). So... once again I promise updates will be regular again, and that this story is NOT dead and I will NOT go on hiatus like that again, I promise! So thank you so much for reading, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and I'll see you in the next chapter!  
**

 **Allons-y!**


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